On The Other Side
by Misty Glow
Summary: Harry enters a parallel world, inticed by seeing his parents alive again. But little does he know what awaits on the other side. Eventually HP/DM. M/M
1. Chapter 1

_A/N Hello everyone. This plot bunny has been dying to get born and I'm very excited about it. Eventually it will become a Harry/Draco pairing, so if that's not your thing, then stop reading as there will be other slash relationships going on as well. It's just the nature of this fiction as you will find out. But it's not all sex. The plot will be really good, I think. So I hope you enjoy it._

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money (sadly) from the writing of this fiction.

**Into the Portal**

Harry looked up from the sink of dishes he was currently washing, eyeing the Dursleys as they went about their normal Saturday morning activities. Vernon sat reading the newspaper at the breakfast table, full from the meal Harry had just cooked. Dudley was watching television while Petunia scuttled around upstairs, making beds.

Today was Harry's seventeenth birthday and, as usual, it went unrecognized by his relatives. Harry was now unprotected by the wards Dumbledore set for him long ago. He was now an adult. In a few short hours the Order of the Phoenix would arrive to escort him to a safe location. They would also be taking the Dursleys to a safe house for the duration of the war.

But the Dursleys didn't know this. The Order had thought it best to not give them advanced warning in case they tried to foolishly flee on their own. So Harry played along, as if it was a day like any other, yet knowing it was the last 'normal' day the Dursleys would have - at least for awhile. It was most likely Harry's last normal day as well, as he didn't plan on returning to Hogwarts. He had to continue the search for the Horcruxes.

Petunia came hurriedly down the stairs, a pinched, angry look on her face. "That bird must have gotten loose in your room. It's making such a racket. I'm not opening that door. You go take care of it right now," she snapped.

"Fine," Harry sighed, drying his hands in a dish towel and tossing it next to the sink. "And it's an owl."

"Don't get cheeky with me," Petunia replied, shaking a finger. "Take care of it!"

Harry climbed the stairs, wondering how Hedwig could have gotten out of her cage. He had already packed up that morning and taken care of all her needs. As he approached the closed door to his bedroom, it sounded as if there was more than just a loose bird inside. It sounded… windy?

Harry remembered that he was no longer an underage wizard and pulled out his wand, placed his hand on the door knob and turned it carefully.

A bright light immediately hit his eyes, making him recoil from the door. He fell back against the upstairs wall, shading his vision and trying to figure out what was going on his room. It was then a small figure appeared in front of the light, gingerly approaching Harry.

"Master? Master Harry Potter?" it said.

"Who are you?" Harry asked. It became clear that it was a house elf, but he couldn't be sure which one, not with that light in his eyes. The elf stepped out of the room and Harry looked him over. No, he had never seen this one before. But it was smiling excitedly.

"I found you!" the house elf exclaimed, jumping up and down and clasping her two hands together in joy.

"Do I know you?"

"I'm your elf, sir."

Harry shook his head. "Sorry, but, I only have one elf, Kreacher. You are definitely not him."

"What's all that noise?" Vernon shouted from below, too lazy to make the climb.

Harry scowled in the direction of the stairs. "Nothing, I'm taking care of it."

"You better do it soon," his uncle replied.

Harry turned back to the elf. "Listen, just tell me why you are here because you can't stay. Did the Order send you to fetch my stuff?"

"Order, sir?" the elf replied, confused.

Harry looked beyond the elf into his bedroom. The whole wall where his window usually sat was a swirling mass of light. "What is that?"

"That's the doorway, sir."

"I've never seen that before," Harry replied taking a few steps into his room. "Let's see, there's port keys, apparition, and floo travel. What do you call this type?"

"It's old elf magic, sir."

Harry laughed. "Really? Elves only?"

The elf appeared suddenly nervous. "Not exactly, sir. You can use it too. You must come through the portal with me, Harry Potter."

"Portal? Portal to where, exactly?"

"Confound it, boy!" Vernon's voice shouted. "Cease that noise, now!"

Harry shut the door and locked it. "Hurry and tell me."

The house elf's face crumpled in sadness. "Harry Potter must come with Tally. Tally will be in grave danger if Harry Potter does not come."

Harry grew suspicious. "Hang on. Who sent you?"

"Tally was not sent. Tally came on her own."

Harry ran a hand through his messy raven locks, sighing. He remembered how frustrating it was dealing with Dobby second year. House elves could be very stubborn.

"Look, Tally, loads of people are in danger right now and I don't have time to deal with this. You still haven't told me where this portal goes or anything else."

Tally sat on the floor, placing her thumb in her mouth and began to sob. "It was an accident, sir, an accident! My M…M…Master was riding his b…b…room…" She sobbed even louder.

Harry sighed. Something terrible must have happened. A flying accident? "Is your Master… alive?"

Tally shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I tried to save him, I tried so hard. Master flew into a tree. His head was hit too h…h…ard."

"I'm sorry," Harry said in sympathy. "I don't know what I could possibly do to help. Who was your Master?"

Tally's big eyes grew wider. "Y… y…ou."

Harry sat speechless a moment. He wondered if it was possible for house elves to go mad. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"Noooooo…" Tally wailed. "The other you, the other Harry Potter."

"Wait, hang on, did you say the 'other' me?"

Tally nodded, forlornly.

Harry was getting impatient and he rocked nervously. "There is only one me. I'm right here and I'm fine."

"In the other world… the other…" Tally spoke, gulping for air.

"Explain quickly," Harry gestured. The Order was due at any time and it sounded like he had a nutter of a house elf on his hands.

"Through there," Tally pointed at the swirling wall of light, "goes to the other world."

"What? Like a different planet?" This was getting crazier by the minute.

Tally shook her head. "No, same planet. Different…world." She was having a difficult time explaining.

"Time travel? Did you time travel?" Harry asked, trying to make sense of it all.

"No, time is the same. Today is Harry Potter's seventeenth birthday. Same in that world. But… but… my Harry is d… d…ead," she wailed with fresh tears. "Please, sir, you must come with me. If they see you are dead, they will kill Tally. They will kill…"

Harry's mind was spinning. There was another world with another him in it? His mind went back to some science fiction muggle movies he had seen. "Is it some kind of parallel universe, then?" He remember one movie where people were living simultaneous lives in different parallel dimensions, but there were some differences in each of the dimensions.

Tally looked confused. "Tally doesn't know those words, sir."

"So… where you're from, I just died? On my birthday?"

Tally nodded, sobbing.

"And this portal goes there? To that other dimension?" Harry had never heard about this magic. It must have been highly illegal. The Ministry surely wouldn't want people hoping around through various dimensions, meeting their other selves or escaping from trouble.

"I was suppose to watch over you, sir. Tally was responsible for taking care of you," she cried. "They will kill me when they find out. I must bring you there so they will not know."

"That's impossible, Tally. I can't just disappear into another dimension with you. I have my own life here and people who are depending on me. Perhaps you can stay in this world. I can find a place for you if you are too scared to go back."

Tally looked at the portal and back to Harry, weighing her options. She had not been set free by the family, so she would be breaking a very sacred law to an elf. She would be breaking her loyalty. She shook her head. "Tally cannot stay, sir. Your father did not free her."

Harry stood, his body tense. "What? What did you say?"

"Tally cannot stay."

"No, not that. You said my father. My father is alive in your world?" Harry's heart hammered in his chest.

"James Potter is not alive here?"

Harry shook his head. "And… my mother?"

Tally nodded. "Yes, your mother lives too."

Harry let all the air out his body and began pacing. Merlin! What would it have been like to grow up with his parents? This other Harry, this dead Harry, got to experience everything he always longed for. Hugs, kisses, birthday wishes - everything the Dursleys never gave to him.

Harry stopped pacing and faced the watching elf. "How about Sirius Black? Is he alive?"

"Yes, of course, sir," Tally replied, surprised that so many were dead in this world.

"Gah!" Harry huffed. It was perfect over there! Perfect! Everything he had always dreamed of. He began pacing again, casting glances at the portal. His mind began thinking things… things he shouldn't have been thinking. The other Harry was dead. There was a Harry vacancy - a Harry vacancy in an ideal life.

And here? What was here? Voldemort? Horcruxes? Death, death, and more death?

But… they needed him here. He couldn't just abandon them. Not when they all expected him to defeat Voldemort and win this war.

Oh, but the temptation was great, very, very great.

But… what if… what if he went for just a day or two? Surely they wouldn't miss him for a few days? And he'd be safe from Voldemort and his ilk. They surely wouldn't know where he was. He could leave a note for the Order.

The thought of spending his birthday with his parents, just this once, was so overwhelming. He couldn't think of a better gift to himself. Why shouldn't he have this little trip? Didn't he deserve a little happiness after all?

"Tally? What if I came for a few days? I can spend time with my parents and I'll help you soften the blow of the accident. I'll make sure they don't blame you somehow."

Tally jumped up, happy. "Oh, Harry Potter would do this for Tally? Harry Potter will come?"

"Yeah, I think I will. I just have to leave a note for some friends and grab a few things," Harry replied.

"Harry Potter must not tell your father what happened. Harry Potter must pretend to be the other," Tally stated, urgently.

Harry sighed. "I'll pretend for a bit. But, Tally, they are going to have find out after I leave." He put his hand on the elf's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll work something out."

The elf strangely didn't seem concerned with that. "Harry Potter must hurry."

OOOOOOO

Harry found himself in a forest, standing next to Tally and staring at his other self, face down on the ground, dead. The lights from the portal went out behind him, startling Harry a bit as he looked at the macabre sight. "Merlin," he muttered. "Why didn't I wear headgear?" Dried blood was caked onto dead Harry's hair. It was very disconcerting to see oneself dead.

"You didn't like it, sir. Tally always said to wear it, but you didn't listen. You said it was too hot."

"What are you going to do with the body? They'll want a funeral later."

Tally waved her arms, causing a whirlwind of sticks and leaves to swirl above before landing in a pile on top of the body. "Tally will return later and fetch it, sir."

Harry shivered at the thought. He looked about. "Where are we? Are we near Godrics Hollow?"

"No, sir, we are just outside of London."

"London? Don't my parents live in Godrics Hollow?"

Tally shook her head. "No, sir, not for a very long time."

"Oh, I see, they moved to London. All right, then, let's go."

"Hold Tally's hand, sir." Harry held the elf's hand and the elf snapped her fingers. Harry found himself standing in front of Grimmauld Place.

"Sirius' place?" Harry asked. "They live with Sirius?"

"Your father and you live in the Black residence, sir," Tally replied, running to the front step. "We must hurry. We are late."

But Harry was frozen in his tracks. Tally turned and stared. "Sir?"

"You said my mother was alive. Was that a lie?"

"No, sir, she is alive. But she lives elsewhere in Hogsmeade."

Harry's face fell in disappointment. "So, my mum and dad are divorced?" He had always imagined them so happy together. "That's a let down. But it's better than being dead, I suppose," Harry said, sadly.

Tally nodded. "Yes, sir, much better. And you could go to school, too, sir."

"I went to school, Tally, even with them dead."

"No, Tally means that divorce lets you go to school, sir."

Harry scrunched his face in confusion. "What are you saying? Only kids of divorced parents get to go to school?"

"No, sir. Purebloods and pardoned half-bloods may go to school. If a Pureblood had a child with a Muggle-born, the child will be pardoned if the Pureblood parent divorces the Muggle-born parent and becomes a servant of our Lord. If they do not do this, the child may not attend school and the Pureblood parent becomes a blood traitor."

Harry sat on the front step of the house, heavily, his stomach churning. Was this elf saying what he thought she was saying? If she was, this was no ideal life he was walking into, it was a nightmare.

He swallowed, preparing to ask the next question. "Is this Lord… is it Voldemort?"

"Don't say the name! Sir must only say 'our Lord'."

Harry put his face in his hands, rubbing his temples. "Are you saying he's in charge? He won the war?"

Tally nodded. "Many, many years ago, sir. You were very small. Then he passed all his laws. We must all live by his laws."

Harry took a deep breath. This was not what he was hoping for. Not at all. But, on the other hand, he was only here to see his parents and Sirius. He'd spend today with his dad and Sirius, and head over to Hogsmeade to see his mum tomorrow. Then he'd leave this world to its twisted fate. He had to get back to his own dimension and make sure this didn't happen there.

Harry's bangs had been swept away by his hands and Tally's eyes opened wide. "Oh, no. We must get rid of that. Master did not have that." She pointed at his scar.

She rubbed her magical fingers over his scar, casting a concealing charm. Then she looked at his hair, adjusting the length longer and making it smoother.

She snapped her fingers and Harry's glasses disappeared.

"Hang on, I actually need those to see."

"Master did not wear spectacles. His father took him to an eye healer when he was four."

"Give them back or I'll be bumping into everyone and everything. Besides, I want to actually see my parents, not their blurry outline."

Tally paused a moment, thinking. Then her face lit up. "Tally knows what to do." She snapped her fingers twice more. Once to make Harry's glasses reappear, and another time to make them invisible but still useful.

Harry could no longer see his glasses on his face, but he could see. He reached up and felt them. "Brilliant."

Just then the front door flew open and Harry stood quickly, pulse pounding. There stood the tall figure of his father, staring at them both. "Where have you been?" he asked, impatiently. "You were suppose to be home an hour ago to get ready for your birthday." His eyes swept over Harry's Muggle attire. "And what are you wearing?"

"Dad?" Harry whispered, emotion washing over him. "Dad!" he said louder, hurrying up the rest of the stairs and flinging himself in James' arms.

James stiffened up for a moment, not use to affection from Harry. But then he relaxed as Harry didn't let go and put his arms about his son. "Harry? What's the matter?"

"I'm just happy to see you," Harry replied next to his ear, not wanting to let go. Gods this felt so wonderful, so right. This is what he missed growing up.

Tally bit her fingers nervously, hoping that Harry remembered to act like the other Harry. So far, he wasn't doing a very good job. She covertly kicked Harry in the calf.

"Ouch!" Harry jumped, turning to glare at Tally, but still keeping one arm around his father. He noticed her worried expression and figured out what her problem was. Clearing his throat, he said, "Sorry, Dad, I suppose I had a close call today. I was out flying and hit a tree. I thought I was going to die. But Tally fixed me up. All the way home I kept thinking that I could have been dead. I'm just happy to be alive and with you again."

James laughed slightly. "You have never been so dramatic, my son." He pulled Harry into the house while Tally scurried in behind them. Then he let Harry go, waving his arm toward the staircase. "Now off with you. You have one hour to bathe and dress before we must leave."

Harry's face studied his surroundings quickly. This Grimmauld Place had been maintained far better than the one he knew. Of course, this one had never been abandoned like the other was. "Leave?" Harry asked, absentmindedly. He was far too fascinated with how opulent the Black family home appeared. He wondered if that horrid portrait of Sirius' mother still hung in the hall.

James looked at him strangely. "Yes, leave. You're birthday party, remember? It's not everyday a boy becomes a man." James grinned with fatherly pride.

Harry couldn't help but smile back. "This will be the best birthday ever."

OOOOOO

_A/N Perhaps Harry should have asked more questions before he decided to come? Many more surprises are due for him._

_So, I'm anxiously awaiting your feedback to see if I should continue with this. Let me know what you think so far. Thank you._


	2. I'm A What?

A/N Thank you so much to all the reviewers of this fiction. I was very happy to see the interest for me to continue. So this is for you:

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

I'm A What?

Harry had so many questions bubbling inside as he left his father's side with Tally. He kept looking over his shoulder at the retreating figure of James while the elf pulled him upstairs. That was his father! Well, perhaps not really 'his' father, but he was what his father would have looked like, felt like, sounded like. It was as close to being with his actual father as he would ever get.

"Come, Master," Tally urged, pulling Harry's hand along the upstairs hall and into a very nice bedroom. A mahogany four poster bed, decked in luxuriant green and black silks, highlighted a room filled with magical artwork and opulent furnishings. Tally shut the bedroom door behind them and addressed Harry. "Master, you must not act surprised at everything. They will suspect."

Harry glanced around his room. "But it's all so overwhelming, Tally. You can't imagine how it felt to see my father. And this house looks much more grand than the one in my world."

"Master must remember to act like the other Harry."

Harry looked at her, frowning. "But, I'm not the other Harry, Tally." He walked around the room, touching things in curiosity. "You'll have to fill me in on more things about this world. Is it just me and my father living here? What about Sirius?"

"He lives here too, sir, and his brother, Master Regulus."

"Regulus? He's alive too, then." Harry wondered what Regulus would be like. He remember from the family tree that Sirius had shown him once that Regulus was younger than Sirius.

Tally nodded. "Let Tally fill your bath, sir, and we will speak more." She scurried into a room attached to the bedroom only to let out a squeak of fright. Harry could hear her say, "Excuse me, sir."

Then Harry heard a man's voice from within.

"Tally, where's Harry? I've been waiting so long, I've just about pruned."

"I will fetch him, sir," Harry heard her say. Harry watched as she backed out of the bathing room.

"Who's that in there?" Harry hissed. "I thought this was my room."

Tally nodded. "It is, sir. Master Regulus is already in the bath waiting for you, sir."

"Waiting for me? What? To bathe with me? Is that what they do in this house?"

Tally looked uncomfortable and began shifting her feet and wringing her hands. "Ah… well… you see, sir… sometimes you bathe with Master Regulus."

Regulus shouted from the other room, "Harry, hurry up, pup. You want to be late for your own party?"

"You've got to be joking?" Harry frowned, hoping for a way out of this.

Tally shook her head. "No, sir. Master must go and bathe. Harry Potter must act normal."

"Normal? Is that what you call normal?"

Harry could see that Tally didn't not know what normal meant to him. Normal seemed to be whatever the old Harry did.

Harry sighed, looking at the bathing room door. Then he looked at Tally and he shook his finger at her. "Stay close. I'm going to have lots more questions for you after this… bath."

Tally nodded.

Harry stepped into the bathing room, fragrant steam wafting through the air. A sunken pool of warm water took up the middle of the room. Sitting on one side was a handsome black-haired man, relaxing in the bubbles. He looked about mid twenties in age. He grinned at Harry.

"There you are, pup, I was beginning to worry."

"I'm not a pup," Harry stated, feeling uncomfortable at the man's perusal.

Regulus laughed. "Oh, so now that you're seventeen, you feel you've outgrown my little term of endearment?" He stretched his arms to both sides, resting them on the ledge of the pool. "No, matter. But you have ruined my little birthday surprise by arriving so late."

Harry glanced through the door and saw Tally still standing in his room, looking nervous that he'd blow his cover. Her eyes were wide with fright. He decided that the less words he used, the better.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled. "What was my surprise?"

Regulus stared at Harry hungrily, his dark eyes traveling down Harry's body. "What do you think?"

Harry's jaw dropped. He turned to leave but saw Tally waving her arms for him to stay in the bathing room. She was frantic with fear. Harry shook his head at her. She certainly didn't expect him to have sex with Regulus did she? No fucking way. That was NOT part of the agreement. Holy fucking crap! What kind of life did he walk into?

Regulus noticed Harry getting ready to leave the room. "So, you are still going to be that way, are you?"

Harry turned his face toward the man. "What way is that?" he spat.

"True to that idiot, Zabini, even though he hasn't visited you once this summer. Not even an owl, nothing, and you still insist he's your boyfriend." Regulus swished some bubbles away in disgust. "You've pushed me away all summer for nothing. You can bet he'll still ignore you when you return to school."

Harry stood in shock. He was gay? This Harry was gay? And not only that, he was dating Slytherins. Fuck all! How was he suppose to pretend he was gay? He wasn't gay.

Harry guiltily pushed down a suppressed memory that tried to surface, a very erotic dream he once had staring him and one of Ron's brothers. Wait… could he be gay?

Harry swallowed, running a hand through his hair, a look of confusion on his face.

Regulus watched him with interest and pity. "It's ok, pup, I'm sorry I said that. Don't get so distressed. It's your birthday, yeah? Come on in the water, I'll be good. Maybe he'll be there at your party tonight and everything will work out. I can slip him a lust potion if you like."

"No!" Harry barked, louder than he meant to.

Regulus grinned. "Fine, no lust potions. But I will hex his balls off if he's rude to you."

Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin, was going to be at his party? And had he been intimate with him? And possibly Regulus too? Gods, what other fucked up thing could possibly happen?

Regulus sighed heavily and stood up, the water rushing over his toned body. "I can see you are in a sore mood. I'll leave you be."

Harry averted his eyes and waited as Regulus stepped out of the pool and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist. He stopped by the door, gazing speculatively at Harry. "I don't know what's got into you, but I wish you'd talk to me like you use to. I've always been here for you."

Harry spared him a glance and nodded.

Regulus sighed again and left, scolding Tally on his way through Harry's room. "You better have him ready in time."

"Yes, Master."

OOOOOO

Harry sat in the pool, angry that the party that he'd been looking forward to would probably turn out as terrible as this world was. He had no idea what was in store but he sure as hell intended to find out.

"TALLY" Harry hollered. "Get in here, now!"

The nervous elf scurried in. "Yes, Master? Did you need something?"

"Answers. I need answers. First off, you didn't tell me I was gay."

Confusion filled the little elf's face. "Tally did not know that was important, sir."

"Not important? Not important? If I'm in a relationship with someone, I need to know. How am I suppose to act like your Harry if I don't even know who I'm dating or who I'm friends with? And how I'm I suppose to act gay when I've never been with a guy before? Merlin, I've never even slept with a girl either. Only experience I have is some heavy snogging with Ginny."

Tally's eyes grew wide. "Ginny, sir? That is a girl?"

"Yes, Ginny Weasley. She's my girlfriend, or she was before I kind of broke it off at the end of last term. I didn't want the other side to think they could use her as a pawn to get to me during this blasted war we are in. But if I'm alive after it's all through, I'll try to win her back if she'll still have me. Speaking of which, the Weasleys - will they be at my party?"

Tally shook her head. "No, sir, no Weasley's will be at your party."

"Why not? They are alive in this world, aren't they?"

Tally nodded. "Yes, sir, some are alive, but they are beneath you, sir."

"What? Beneath me?" Harry let out a long breath. Then he remembered who was in charge of this world. "But, they are pure bloods. Wouldn't that make them 'above' a half-blood like me?"

"The Weasley father and mother fought against our Lord during the war, sir. Then they refused to pledge loyalty after the war and so were executed. The younger children were then raised by the older brothers who did pledge loyalty to our Lord, sir."

"Then why would they be beneath me if they pledged loyalty? Didn't my father and Sirius have to do the same to protect me? Help me understand this all, Tally."

"Your father and Master Sirius did not fight against our Lord, sir, so it is different. Your father's only crime was that he married a muggle-born. But that was amended and forgiven, sir."

Harry wanted to drown himself in that moment. His father and Sirius did not fight against Voldemort? Did that mean they fought for the other side? Merlin!

"Are you saying that my father was a… a… Death Eater?"

"Tally does not know what a Death Eater is, sir."

"They were Voldemort's servants. They have tattoos that he uses to call them to his side and they do whatever he wants them to do: kill, torture, and so on."

Her eyes grew wide. "Do not say his name, sir. You must say 'our Lord'."

"Well, fuck our Lord!"

Tally squeaked in fright. "Please, Master, do not speak so."

Harry tried to calm himself. What had he gotten into? Thank goodness he was only here a few days.

"Sorry, Tally, it's just a shock and all. Things are so different. People are different. In my world, my father and Sirius fought alongside the Weasleys against 'our Lord'."

"There are no tattoos, sir. Your father and Master Sirius did not take a side in the war. They tried to stay out of it - because of your mother and you. They pledged their loyalty after our Lord won the war, sir."

"Then they were cowards? They did not stand against him?"

"No, sir, they could not turn against their family and friends."

Harry laughed scornfully. "Well, Sirius never gave a fig about his family in my world. The Blacks had treated him like an outcast anyway. And my father was an only child."

"And many of their schoolmates fought with our Lord, sir. They did not want to kill their own friends."

"Hang on. What are you saying?" Harry grew more uneasy. "Who were their friends?"

"Their mates from school, sir. I do not know all the names."

Harry frowned. "Most of the other side's supporters were from Slytherin house. My dad and Sirius were Gryffindors."

"No, sir, in this world they were Slytherins."

Harry smacked the water. "No way! Oh, this is beyond fucked up. Next you'll be telling me that I'm a Slytherin."

"Yes, sir, you are."

Harry stared in shock at the little house elf. Suck Merlin's wrinkled balls! What the fuck? "Please tell me you are kidding?"

Tally shook her head. "No, sir, Tally does not kid."

Harry sighed heavily. Well this really sucked badly. He could guess that his birthday party would be filled with obnoxious Slytherin prats. Ok, then, he'd just try to focus on being around his father and Sirius. Tomorrow he'd see his mother.

Speaking of which….

"Tally, the muggle-borns, are they not allowed to go to school anymore?"

Tally shook her head, eyes wide. "Oh, no, sir. After the laws passed, free muggle-borns had to leave the magical world and never practice magic again. If they stayed, they were… exterminated."

Harry thought about Hermione. In this world, she had never received her letter to attend Hogwarts. She never became part of the magical world. Gods, what a waste of talent!

"What about my mother? She's in Hogsmeade and that's part of the magical world."

"Yes, sir, muggle-borns can only stay as sla… servants if they have a pureblood master."

"My mother is a slave?" Harry shouted, outraged.

Tally swallowed, taking a step back. "I… sir… your mother is not bad treated, sir. I heard your father speak of it. She is treated well by her Master. Her Master has… feelings for her." Tally lowered her voice to a whisper. "But we are not suppose to speak of that outside of our family, sir. Our Lord does not like his servants to care about muggle-borns. He will get angry and destroy the muggle-born. All must believe that your mother lives a hard life."

"Who is this benefactor that 'cares' for her? And why didn't my father claim her as a 'slave' and keep her in this house?"

"That was not allowed, sir. A pureblood divorcing a muggle-born could not keep her on as a slave because the pureblood was forbidden from having contact with the muggle-born they divorced. And I do not know the name of her master, sir. They don't speak of him very much. But I heard he was a pardoned half-blood like yourself, sir."

"So, I presume I haven't been allowed contact with her either?"

Tally shook her head.

"But I AM going to see her tomorrow, Tally. I don't care about the laws. I'm leaving afterwards anyway."

Tally looked frightened. "But you will be arrested! And your mother will be too. Her Master and your father will be in trouble as well! No, Harry Potter, you cannot take that chance."

Harry smacked the side of the pool in frustration. He certainly didn't want to cause anything bad to happen to his mother and father, but seeing his mother again was a big part of why he came here in the first place.

"Master? You have a big heart, bigger than my Harry Potter had."

Harry looked up at her from his sulking. "It's all so disappointing, Tally. I just wanted to spend time with my parents. But I don't want to make things worse for them in this world. Didn't my other self miss her? Didn't he want to see her too?"

Tally shook her head. "He never spoke of her, Master. I think… he was ashamed of her. Ashamed of having a muggle-born mother."

"Then he was fucking blighter and I'm glad he smacked his idiot head so hard," Harry spat.

Tally sniffled and began to weep, making Harry feel regretful for his outburst.

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry, Tally. Things are just so… upside down here." He sighed, running a wet hand through his hair. "All right then, I'll go to this party, spend some time with my dad and Sirius, and leave tomorrow after me and you discuss how to handle the whole death issue so you won't get blamed."

Harry slipped under the water to wet his hair, missing the look of fear and nervousness on Tally's face regarding Harry's plans.

OOOOO

A/N So, lots of background info in this chapter about this world Harry has ended up in. Next time we'll go to his birthday party and Harry will face even more revelations and also a hitch to his plans.

Hope you are still enjoying this. Let me know.

Petalsoft


	3. The Gift

A/N Thank you to anyone reviewing this fiction. It means a lot to me. I'm very excited about this storyline and I hope you'll enjoy it too.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

The Gift

Harry stepped out of his room, wearing black and white dress robes that Tally had set out for him. She also primped and fussed with his hair after giving his face a shave. Then she declared him ready.

He felt like a spoilt rich Slytherin prat and he supposed that tonight he would be one. Tally pushed his leg gently, prodding him to head downstairs to the parlor. "Remember, Master, don't be surprised about everything."

But Harry broke her rule within seconds when Sirius stepped out of another bedroom.

"Sirius!" Harry called, grinning.

Sirius turned about and smiled back at Harry. "Happy Birthday, Harry, you look great."

Harry threw his arms about his godfather, hugging him and replying, "So do you. So do you." Gods, how he had missed him! Even though the hair was shorter and the beard more trim, he was still Sirius Black.

Sirius pulled back a bit. "You seem very excited."

Harry's grin grew bigger. "Yeah, I am. It feels like forever since I've spent time with you."

"Yes, breakfast was eons ago, wasn't it?" Sirius laughed. "You really did hit your head today. Your father told me about it. You sure you're o.k.?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, I think. I feel fine."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Sirius asked, holding up three fingers.

"Three," Harry laughed, swatting the hand away playfully. "Now let's go."

Sirius kept looking at Harry contemplatively as they made their way down the stairs. "Something's different about you," he said. "You're too happy. Not that I'm complaining. It's good to see."

Harry knew he had to contain his excitement. He was blowing his cover. "It's my birthday, that's all," he shrugged.

Sirius slapped him on the back. "All right, then."

They walked into the parlor and Harry had to stop himself from grinning like an idiot again at the figure of his father dressed as he was and waiting for him. He was speaking to Regulus in hushed tones, but quickly stopped when Harry and Sirius entered.

"Good, everyone is ready then," James said, giving Harry a nod of approval.

Regulus bent and removed a cloth from a crystal statuette on the table. Harry wondered if it was a gift for him but soon discovered otherwise.

"Wait," James said. "Before you touch this port key, Harry, I wanted you to be prepared a bit more. This will be your first time at the gentlemen's club and I feel it wise that we fill you in so that you don't feel a complete novice."

Gentlemen's club? Wonderful, Harry thought, morosely. The whole thing reeked of pretentiousness all ready. He'd much rather have had a home baked lopsided cake at the Weasley's house than this, but that certainly wouldn't happen in this world. He felt a tinge of guilt at that moment, wondering if Molly Weasley had planned something for his birthday tonight in his world, a birthday he wouldn't be there for.

But, at least he had his father and Sirius tonight, right?

Regulus rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Harry knows what whores are, James, and what he might do with them."

"What? Whores? At my party?"

"They are always at the club, Harry, for those that wish to indulge. Don't feel you have to, however. There are other games and entertainments as well. Try not to drink too much," Sirius smiled. "Your friends will be there too, Harry, of course. Most have already turned seventeen and this will likely not be their first visit to the club."

"Oh, yes, my 'friends'," Harry muttered, frowning.

James glanced sharply at Regulus. "Tell him, Regulus."

Regulus shook his head and sighed. "It will ruin the surprise."

"What? Just tell me?" Harry said, not needing anymore surprises.

Regulus shrugged, resigned. "Fine, pup. Our Lord is giving you a special birthday gift tonight…"

"He's going to be there?" Harry almost shouted.

Regulus looked at Harry like he was an idiot. "Of course not! You know he never attends parties. But that doesn't stop him from giving a gift if he's so inclined."

"Why would he give me anything," Harry asked, annoyed, "unless it's seventeen severed muggle heads?"

"Don't be macabre, Harry," Sirius scolded. "What is it then, Regulus?"

Regulus frowned. "Honestly, Harry, you're in a pissy mood today. What's wrong with you?"

"Pissy? Harry's been quite the contrary," James replied.

Regulus held up his hands in defeat. "You know, I'm not going to say more. Just be forewarned that our Lord's gifts can sometimes be quite shocking."

"My day couldn't be more shocking, I assure you," Harry replied. "I don't care what he gives me as long as it doesn't require my blood, or that a tattoo be burnt into my arm."

The other three men looked at Harry oddly. James stepped forward. "Come son, touch the port key with us. Three… two… one…"

OOOOOO

Harry was glad he was able to make a somewhat graceful landing in front of the gentlemen's club and not end up on the ground with his robes over his head. He was starting to get the hang of port key travel.

The four men looked at one another, making sure each arrived safe and sound.

"Very well, then, shall we?" James asked.

They headed up the steps of the building toward a burly bouncer standing in front of the door. He moved aside, tipping his hat and saying, "Welcome, sirs, and happy birthday to you, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded a quick 'thank you' and went in. Other attendants seemed to come out of the walls, offering to take their over-robes and offering them refreshments. Harry looked about the foyer of crystal chandeliers and decadent furnishings. Men stood around in small groups, talking with one another, smoking cigars and drinking.

Harry sighed, wondering how this could possibly be fun. He grabbed a drink off of a tray, thinking it might help him get through this strange evening.

"Ah, there he is. The man of the hour," a voice rang out. Harry turned to see someone he wasn't quite familiar with in his world.

"Nott!" Sirius greeted, clapping the man on the back as he neared.

So this is Theodore Nott's dad, Harry thought. Yes, this was bound to be a jolly Slytherin prat fest.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Nott senior said, lifting his glass in a salute. "And welcome to the gentlemen's club."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, trying to act pleased.

The group wandered through a set of double doors into a larger room that was magically charmed into a Quidditch field, there were stands on the side and colorful banners, as well as players flying high above in a perpetual match. A band played on one side of the room and on the other were large comfortable lounge chairs where people could sit and chat or watch the game. Drink and food platters constantly floated by each guest, tempting them with delicious delights.

"Wow," Harry muttered, meaning it. This was amazing.

"I thought you'd like it," James grinned. "I chose it just for you, Harry."

Harry tore his gaze away from the room to look at his father. "It's brilliant. Thank you…, Dad." He wasn't use to calling anyone Dad, but it felt really good and his heart flipped to think that someone cared enough to do this for him.

"Harry, there are your friends up there," Sirius pointed. "Go on and have some fun."

Harry looked to where Sirius pointed, noticing that on one level of one of the stands were billiard tables and a group of guys were playing and talking. They were a bit too far to make out for certain, but Harry could guess who the platinum blond head belonged to. Just great, a evening with Malfoy, he thought sarcastically.

"I'd rather be with you," Harry stated.

"Nonsense," Sirius replied, waving his arm. "Why would you want to be with us old codgers? Go on and have fun."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You are hardly an old codger."

"All the same, go on," Sirius stated. "Get in some billiards before dinner, yeah?"

Harry glanced at his father who seemed very sedate. Harry had always imagined James like his pictures, boisterous and fun loving. Sirius seemed the same as the one in his world, minus the tortured look Azkaban had wrought. He wondered if James was unhappy without Lily, living a sort of half-life.

Regulus slung his arm about Harry, leading him away. "Come on, pup. Can't hide all night."

"I'm not hiding," Harry hissed, shrugging the arm off him. But that did not stop Regulus from leading him toward the stands. Harry supposed Regulus did care for the old Harry, but it seemed wrong for someone who was like family to have a sexual interest. Harry wondered how long that whole perversion had been going on. Was Regulus molesting the old Harry as a child?

The thought made Harry angry, but he tried to hold himself in check.

They were away from the others now, so Regulus stopped Harry. "Look, Harry, why are you so angry at me? What have I done?"

Harry huffed and glared. "I just would like you to keep your hands off me, all right? Isn't that like incest or something? It's wrong."

Regulus didn't speak a moment as he searched Harry's eyes. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not."

Regulus let out a breath, his liaise faire attitude gone. "First off, pup, how can it be incest if we are not blood related? Second, you're the one who couldn't keep out of my bed last Christmas holiday. I tried to resist you, if you can recall, but you kept telling me how I needed to teach you all about sex so you'd know what to do with that prat you went out with and you did that whole thing with your eyes, pleading me…"

"Stop," Harry said, not wanting to hear more. Gods, it sounded like the old Harry was just as much of a flaming pervert. What other things had he done?

Regulus looked truly hurt and for some misguided reason Harry found himself feeling bad. "I'm sorry, all right. I don't know if you heard, but I hit my head quite hard today. I think I almost died, if it wasn't for Tally. I just haven't been feeling myself since."

Regulus sighed. "I'll have to remember to reward Tally then." It was silent a few moments. Then Regulus said, "I love you, Harry, and not because of any fooling around we might have done, but because we're family. I've always been here for you, since you were a small tyke. And I always will be here for you, benefits or not. Just don't close me out of your life, yeah? You, our family, it's the only thing that gives me something to live up to."

Harry nodded, not knowing what to say. He certainly didn't understand it, but he could feel Regulus' sincerity. He wished he could ask more questions, but doing so would just create other questions. No, it was best just to suffer this night and leave on the morrow.

"I think we ought stop by St. Mungos and have your head injury checked out tomorrow before we go shopping for your school supplies," Regulus added. "But tonight is all about your happiness." Regulus smiled. "Go on up there and don't let Zabini get to you. Pretend you don't give a fig about him. Living well is the best revenge."

"Right," Harry nodded. Regulus had no idea just how easy it would be for Harry to not give a fig about Zabini.

"Harry, get your arse up here," Theodore Nott called from above.

"Look, Teddy seems a good sort. Stay next to him," Regulus suggested.

"Sure," Harry said, looking about for the staircase. "How am I suppose to get up there?"

Regulus pointed to a row of brooms. "Fly, of course."

"Of course," Harry half-laughed. Hanging with the Slytherins… oh, boy… what… fun. He mounted a broom and half-heartedly flew around the room a bit before coming to the billiards platform.

Normally, Harry would have expected a group of Slytherins to sneer at him and call him names, but in this twisted world they actually seemed glad to see him. Shouts of 'Happy Birthday' and claps on the back, hands stuck into his to shake, were what he was greeted with as he got off the broom and onto the platform. Most then returned to what they had been doing before: playing billiards, drinking and talking. Theodore Nott put an arm about Harry and led him to some bar stools, a bit away from the table where Malfoy and Zabini were playing a game against each other.

"How's it feel to finally be able to come to the gentlemen's club, Harry?"

Harry shrugged. "Good, I guess. You come here a lot?"

"This is only my third time. Later tonight, I'll show you where the action is," Teddy grinned, wagging his eyebrows.

Crabbe and Goyle sauntered over to them and sat at the bar, grabbing some drinks from a floating silver tray.

"Great party, Harry," Goyle commented. "Your dad went all out."

"Yeah, he did," Harry agreed.

It was very strange being here amongst his enemies, having friendly chat. Harry had to keep reminding himself that he was suppose to be a Slytherin prat as well. It was almost funny when one really thought about it. He felt like an undercover agent.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Crabbe, watching a bludger smack a player off his broom. "That was wicked." He grabbed a meaty fistful of snacks from a dish, watching the game around and above them.

Goyle backhanded Crabbe in the chest. "Save some room for dinner."

"Mind yourself!" Crabbe snapped back.

"Draco knows what your gift from our Lord is, Harry, but he's not telling anyone," Goyle revealed.

Draco stood from a bent position over the billiard table, having just missed a shot. "Why ruin the surprise, Gregory? I guarantee it will be interesting, however," Malfoy smiled, wickedly.

Zabini seemed to be avoiding conversation with Harry, concentrating on the game he was playing.

"And what did he give you for your birthday, Malfoy?" Harry asked, trying to keep the spite out of his tone.

"Oh, Malfoy is it?" Draco chuckled. "Shall I call you Potter, then?"

"Whatever," Harry responded. He should just shut up before he mucked it all up. Just get this evening over with, he kept telling himself.

Theodore leaned toward Harry and asked under his breath, "Are you upset about… you know…" His eyes shifted quickly to Zabini.

"Not at all," Harry replied, easily. Then he smiled. "I couldn't care less, actually."

Goyle had overheard. "Really? You couldn't care less? What was all that not sleeping and starving yourself for a week last spring about then?"

"I had the flu," Harry replied, blithely.

Everyone looked at him strangely a moment before breaking out in laughter. Even Zabini cracked a smile. Draco walked over and clapped Harry on the back. "That's the spirit, Harry. It's best not to get too attached to people. We were a bit worried about you. It's good to see that you have some sense left."

"You don't have to worry about me falling in love with the lot of you," Harry laughed, meaning it.

The Slytherins laughed along with him, taking it as good natured jesting.

Zabini walked over to Harry, holding out his hand. "So we're good then?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry replied, shaking his hand. Everyone looked surprised at Harry's seeming nonchalance about his past relationship with Zabini. Harry wondered just how much of a basket case the old Harry had been over this breakup.

"Excellent," Zabini replied.

OOOOOO

A very long table had rising from the ground of the 'Quidditch ' field, laden with a delicious feast. All the guests headed to dinner. Harry noticed they were all men - his 'friends' and their fathers, as well as people he didn't recognize at all. Harry couldn't help but glare at Lucius Malfoy, even when he came to wish Harry a happy birthday. Lucius didn't seem to notice Harry's hate.

Worst of all, Harry hated seeing his father and Sirius talking to these horrid fellows, acting like old friends. It made Harry feel even more foreign. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on his delicious meal and the conversations of those around him. It seemed like ages since he had a good meal. He had had only one boiled egg and a glass of juice at the Dursley's this morning.

Harry glanced around the faces along both sides of the table. Many of those men were Death Eaters in his world, and here he sat, having dinner with them. But from what Tally said, it sounded as if there were no Death Eaters in this world, or at least, they didn't call themselves such. What had Voldemort used to control his followers during the war if not the Dark Mark?

And Harry's mind began think about the prophecy. If there was no prophecy in this world, then Voldemort had no reason to try to kill him as a baby. That is why his parents were still alive here. And it is also why Voldemort never fell and Harry had never received his scar. That is why this world was now ruled by that mad man.

Harry jolted out of his thoughts when Severus Snape walked onto the field and toward the table. Harry stared as he came to a stop in front of him. "Forgive my lateness, Harry, it couldn't be helped. Happy Birthday."

Harry? When did Snape ever speak his name? And, without spitting it out in dislike? Harry was so shocked, he couldn't speak for a moment. He pushed down the hatred he had for this man, this man that killed Dumbledore just a few months ago. He had to squash this feeling down somehow. After all, this Snape wasn't his Snape.

Snape began to look worried at Harry's silence. "Are you well?"

Harry let out the breath he had been holding. "Um… yeah…, sorry. Thank you, Professor."

Snape nodded. "Very well."

He walked alongside the table to an empty seat as Harry watched.

"Did you have a falling out with Snape?" Theodore inquired.

"No, why?" Harry asked, reminding himself inside to quit letting his other world interfere here.

"Because you're like his favorite student of all and you are usually very glad to see him."

Harry looked at Nott in doubt.

"I'm serious," Nott added, with a grin.

Harry held up a hand. "Don't even go there." By Gods, Harry did not want to imagine being a namby pamby teacher's pet to Snape, that evil git.

Theodore laughed. "Fine, but we all know how he favors you."

Harry ignored him, turning his attention to other conversations going on around him as he ate.

OOOOOO

When the meal ended, a club attendant came into the room and announced that they needed to adjourn to an adjoining room for a special gift from our Lord. All the wizards rose from the table and walked across the field into a pair of opened doors with attendants standing at attention on both sides.

It was a sort of amphitheatre, with seating all around a center arena. Harry felt a dark, foreboding feeling pulling on his gut. It would be some sort of entertainment and Harry knew it would probably be something disgusting if it came from Voldemort.

James pushed lightly on Harry's back as he hesitated. "Go on, son, let us sit in the front row." He leaned forward and whispered behind Harry's ear. "You can always shut your eyes."

Harry nodded slightly, glad that he wasn't the only who didn't appreciate 'gifts' from Voldemort. He sat down in the front row, James on one side of him and Sirius on his other. Harry noticed Sirius was frowning. He must have heard of what was to come.

All the men were now seated and the room darkened as the entrance doors closed on their own. A spotlight came on, pointing directly into the center arena onto something very large, rectangular, and covered. It was so large that all of the men at Harry's party could have fit into it.

A garishly dressed man walked near to it, smiling and holding up his hands. He reminded Harry of a circus ring leader.

"Gentlemen," he called out. "Tonight we have a special treat for you. Our great Lord has bestowed a very special gift to Mr. Harry Potter, in honor of his seventeenth birthday. Behold!"

The cloth vanished into the air, revealing a very large cage. Inside was a tropical environment, maintained by magic. Harry's eyes searched for what might be inside and fell upon the large tree in the center. Curled around the tree was the largest, longest anaconda Harry had ever seen.

The theatre filled with voices of approval and praise for the gift and Harry wanted to roll his eyes. He knew they would praise anything Voldemort did, those arse kissers. Sirius leaned forward and looked at James. "Where ever shall we keep that thing?"

"We send it back where it came from, of course," Harry mumbled.

James gave Harry a warning glance not to say anymore about it. It wouldn't be good if others heard that Harry wanted to reject a gift from 'our Lord'.

The ring master continued on. "And for your further enjoyment, you will get to witness the feeding of Mr. Potter's new pet."

A clanking sound was heard and their attentions were drawn upwards. Harry gasped inside as a pair of legs came into view. A young, nude muggle woman was being lowered down into the cage, hanging by her wrists from chains. She must have been drugged as she struggled to keep her eyes open against the spotlights shinning on her. It was obvious she had no knowledge of what was about to befall her.

Harry felt panic for her welling up in his chest, but his father grasped his hand and squeezed, silently willing Harry to remain calm. Was Harry suppose to sit here and watch a girl get eaten? She would be swallowed and slowly digested over months! Didn't anyone else care?

Harry looked about the room. The expressions on everyone's faces were varied. Harry saw pity, revulsion, and excitement. But none of them moved. No one would do a thing about it. No one would speak against Voldemort's 'gift'.

The girl's feet touched the bottom of the cage and the chains stopped moving. She stood there, confused, looking about at her surroundings. When she finally spotted the large snake, she screamed in terror and began to struggle. Each scream tore at Harry's heart, his palms sweated, he couldn't be witness to this!

The anaconda awoke from his slumber by her screams vibrating his cage. His head moved, lifting to look at the struggling, frantic girl.

Harry heard him speak in his mind.

_Food… yessssssss. I am hungry._

And Harry knew they had starved this snake, starved him for this very night.

As the snake began to unravel himself from the tree, his large length spiraling downwards to make his way to the woman, Harry couldn't take it any longer. He ripped his hand out of his father's and stood, speaking to the snake.

_Stop! You will not eat her._

The snake turned it's head and looked at Harry, stopping his motion.

_You ssssspeak to meeee?_

_Yessss, I am your Massster. You cannot have her. I will find you other food._

_I am hungry now. I cannot wait._

_If you wait, I ssssshall find a way to sssset you freeeee. You will return to your home._

The snake paused, seemingly weighing its options. It looked at the girl and then back at Harry.

_Find me other food ssssssoon, Masssster. Or I will dieee. _

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the snake turned away from the screaming girl, coming to rest on the other side of the cage. The girl stopped screaming and now whimpered, pressing herself on the side of the cage, crying, "Please, someone let me out, please…"

Harry then turned.

The room was silent. All eyes were on him with expressions of varying degrees. His father looked pale, as if he were going to be ill at any moment. Then Harry remembered - the other Harry wouldn't have been a Parselmouth. The old Harry would never had had any of Voldemort's powers transferred to him. Oh, fuck! Now what?

After a long moment of silence, Lucius Malfoy, who had been sitting behind them in the second row, said:

"James, it appears you may have Salazar Slytherin in your bloodline somewhere."

OOOOOOO

A/N Hoped you enjoyed that. Please review this chapter, it really encourages me to work harder on this fiction. Thank you!


	4. Three Minutes

A/N Thanks to everyone who has sent reviews. I love reading them and it made me work on this chapter fasterJ Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

Three Minutes

After a long moment of silence, Lucius Malfoy, who had been sitting behind them in the second row said:

"James, it appears you may have Salazar Slytherin in your bloodline."

"I've never been aware of it, Lucius," James replied, still staring at Harry in shock.

"Then this warrants a bit of ancestral research," Lucius stated. "I shall consult the council regarding this matter."

Harry could swear his father turned even paler. "If you insist."

"I do."

Sirius let out his breath. "Harry, how long have you known you're a Parselmouth?"

"What, Black, are you saying you and James had no knowledge of this ability until now?" Crabbe senior asked.

"No, we did not."

Harry shook his head, coming to their defense. "No, they didn't know. I… never told them." He looked at Sirius. "I talked to a few snakes before, when I was younger, but back then I didn't know it was something rare. I thought everyone could do it. I haven't really had many opportunities to use it lately, so I just forgot about it… until tonight."

Rabastan Lestrange stood from his seat and made his way to Harry. James, Sirius and Regulus went immediately to Harry's side.

Rabastan smirked at their protectiveness. "Relax, I merely wish to examine young Mr. Potter."

"This is neither the time nor the place," Sirius growled.

"Brother," Rudolphus Lestrange called out, "this is a party. Let us not mix business with pleasure. There will be time enough for this tomorrow."

"Indeed," Rabastan replied, eyeing Harry in interest. "Tell me, Mr. Potter, why did you not allow your snake to feed. Do you have a soft spot for Muggles?"

Harry quickly reminded himself to act like one of them. "No, of course not," he spat. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for an explanation. "I saw her and fancied her. I'd like to sample her first. It is my gift, isn't it?" Harry asked, with the most snobbish air he could muster.

The ring leader bowed and cleared his throat. "Sir, shall I have the girl put in a room for you then?"

Harry glanced at him. "No, have the gifts sent to our home. I wish to enjoy the party my father has planned for me."

"Very well," he bowed.

"Harry, a word in private," James said, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him out of the room. Sirius and Regulus followed them to an empty niche. James cast a privacy bubble around the four of them.

They could see the other guests leaving the theatre from where they stood. Some talking excitedly and some glancing sidelong at Harry and his family.

"I don't understand why you never mentioned this," James started.

"I'm sorry," Harry replied. "I suppose I didn't want the attention or anyone to know."

"Until tonight," Sirius said, running a hand through his dark hair. "Of all times to reveal your gift, Harry, this was not the ideal one."

"Was I suppose to let that girl get eaten?" Harry snapped, hating that he might be the only one here that felt this way.

Sirius looked down at the floor in regret. "We've seen worse, Harry."

James squeezed Harry's shoulder. "Do you think we enjoy these 'entertainments'?"

"Some of those gits do, I'm sure," Harry seethed. "I couldn't sit by and do nothing when I knew I could do something. The war is long over. Why do people still have to die?"

"It's not the point, pup," Regulus spoke. "It's how our Lord lets us know he still has the power of life and death over us all. If we were to turn against him, we would be as worthless to him as the Muggle girl. It's a power move - a reminder, and, perhaps, a warning."

"He's not MY Lord!" Harry spat.

The other three men looked startled. "Harry, you must never, ever say that outside of our family, do you understand?" James scolded, shaking his arm.

Harry shut his eyes a moment, willing himself to stop threatening the fragile balance that kept his mother, the Blacks and Potters safe in this world. It was hard not to want to solve everything and make it better. It was hard not to take a stand. He opened his eyes and looked at his father. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't muck up your lives too much in there."

Regulus sighed, trying to smile. "Don't worry about it, Harry. Happy for you that I'm on the council and I have friends in high places. I'll get it sorted out."

Harry didn't miss the stricken look that flashed momentarily across Sirius' face. He'd have to remember to ask him about that later.

"Perhaps we do have some Salazar Slytherin in our line. Could be an affair somewhere in history, who knows?" James pondered.

"That would be quite hard to trace," Sirius replied.

"What was the deal with Rabastan?" Harry asked.

"He's skilled at Legilimancy, Harry," Regulus answered. "I believe he wanted to find out if the rest of us really knew nothing of your skill beforehand. I'll deal with Rabastan. But enough of this. Go on and enjoy your party. It seems your friends are going to play some Quidditch."

Harry looked where Regulus pointed, noticing the young men grabbing brooms and having a heated discussion of some sort - probably picking teams. "All right, but can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, pup."

"Can you contact Tally and tell her to find a live deer or boar for the anaconda? I promised it I would find something else for it to eat."

"You don't really want that girl, do you?" Regulus asked, giving Harry a humorous grin.

"Of course not. We need to return her to her home," Harry replied.

"Wait a few days," James cut in. "They may be watching you, Harry, now that you've turned their heads. You'll have to pretend you've 'enjoyed' her, first. Once you are back at school, we'll take care of it."

James turned to Regulus and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Regulus."

"We're family, James," he replied, but his eyes were on Harry.

OOOOOO

Harry walked away from the three men, glancing back over his shoulder to see James leaning against the wall and Sirius pressed against him, holding his head between his hands and placing a kiss on his forehead.

Merlin! Not them too, Harry gasped. James and Sirius were together? Harry willed himself to focus elsewhere. He would deal with that image later. Quidditch, yes, think about Quidditch. Harry's group of 'friends' had grown considerably as they stood picking teams, and Harry recognized some of the blokes from Slytherin house that had graduated before them.

"Harry!" Adrian Pucey called out as Harry neared. He slung his arm around Harry. "You're just in time and you are going to be on my team."

Everyone gathered around Harry. "Speak in Parseltongue again, Harry. That was so fucking hot I almost creamed myself," Adrian urged.

Harry blushed a bit and shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. I have to see a snake, or at lease the image of one. You hear a different language, but all I hear is myself speaking normally."

"Wicked," Theodore grinned. "How come you didn't tell your best mates about it, Harry?" Harry looked about, noticing that some of them did indeed look disgruntled that he'd never told them.

Harry shrugged, "Don't know."

"I have a trouser snake you can talk to," laughed Warrington. Everyone else laughed as well.

"You wish," smiled Harry. Was everyone gay around here? Or maybe they were tipsy. Harry noticed most of them were well on their way to getting drunk. This ought to be an interesting Quidditch match. In fact, Harry thought he could use a few more drinks as well after what happened today. He grabbed a shot glass of fire whiskey that came floating by on a tray and chugged it down.

"All right then, shirts and skins," Adrian announced, since they were all dressed the same in white shirts and black trousers. "We'll be skins since it's too bloody warm in here. Harry, it's your birthday, so we'll let you pick whatever position you want to play."

"Seeker," Harry said, immediately.

"Seeker?" Draco laughed. "Harry, you're not that fast."

"Shut up, it's his birthday," Adrian scolded, winking at Harry. Harry could sense that Adrian was interested in him and he hoped he didn't have to fend him off later.

"All right, then," Draco smirked. "I'm the seeker for the shirts, so I'll meet you up there." Draco got on a broom and took off.

Harry pulled his tie off and discarded his shirt like the other boys on his team.

"Oh, fuck, Potter, you are mine tonight!" Adrian announced, hungrily taking in Harry's physique.

Everyone else checked him out as well. He had been working with Dudley's weights and exercise equipment in the garage all summer, when Dudley was out, and he was all sleek, hard, muscle and toned abs. His skin was tan from working in the sun last week, painting the Dursley's fence.

"When did you get that body?" Teddy asked, awed.

"Oh… um… just practice Quidditch a lot this summer. I'm thinking of going out for the team," Harry said.

"Shirtless?" Blaise smirked.

"Yeah, it was hot," Harry replied.

"You fucking bet it was hot," Adrian smiled, licking his lips. "You should have invited me over, Harry. I could have showed you some moves."

Blaise frowned. "Yeah, I bet." He hopped on his broom and took to the air.

Harry grabbed another fire whiskey from a tray and chugged it down. Bloody hell, Adrian was making him nervous. And was Blaise sounding… jealous?

Warrington bent down and whispered something in Adrian's ear, making the later grin wickedly.

"Let's play already, yeah?" Draco yelled from above.

Everyone took to the air.

Before the balls were released, Adrian announced. "We need stakes. Warrington and I thought of making this game a bit more interesting."

Everyone waited.

Warrington flew to the center of the field. "Listen up. Whenever a team scores, they get to request something from the other team or a specific person on the other team. Whatever they ask for, you have to do."

"Within reason," Teddy added.

"Within reason," Warrington grinned.

Harry had a bad feeling about this. "Hey," he said, "what kind of things? You need to have some guidelines."

Adrian flew to Warrington's side and talked to him in hushed tones.

"All right, it has to be something that could be done on your broom within three minutes. And it has to be done over this field - no hiding," Warrington clarified.

Harry rolled his eyes. He knew this was going to be gay, somehow. Merlin, was everyone bent here? How was he to last the night? Gentlemen's club? Where were all the women in this world?

Harry swooped down and picked up another shot glass of fire whiskey. He was going to have to be drunk for these 'stakes', he was sure.

OOOOO

Harry hovered above, watching the game and looking out for the snitch. But it was a bit fuzzy where ever he looked. Damn that fire whiskey. He could only hope Draco was as drunk as he was - or more.

So far the skins had scored twice. Once, Warrington had made another Slytherin Harry didn't know lick Warrington's nipples for three minutes. The second score, Adrian had Blaise Zabini wank himself for three minutes. That last act was actually funny to Harry because Blaise kept almost losing his balance the whole time he was at it. The first act just made Harry feel strange inside.

Draco pulled up next to him. "You should have told us, you know."

Harry glanced at him. "Sorry, M… Draco, I didn't want to feel like a freak."

"What? You think being a Parselmouth is a bad thing?" Draco asked, amazed.

"No, but what it could mean might be a bad thing."

"You mean, being related to our Lord? You think that would be bad?"

Harry shrugged. "Depends how he sees it, I suppose."

Suddenly all the players were surrounding Draco and Harry, and the two boys looked about.

"Didn't you hear us shouting at you two?" Adrian asked, out of breath.

"No, sorry," Harry replied. "It's hard to hear up here sometimes."

"Well, since you two are getting so cozy in your conversation, I suppose our next stake is for you."

"You scored? I missed it." Draco said.

Adrian nodded. "Yes, Malfoy, skins scored again. So, what you need to do, is give Harry a nice snog for three minutes, tongue and all."

"Fuck off," Harry growled. "I'm on skins like you. Don't I have a say if I want to be involved?"

"You don't like being kissed, Potter?" Adrian asked with a woeful face.

"I…" Harry floundered. He couldn't say he wasn't gay, because the old Harry definitely was. "Draco's my friend. It would be weird, is all." There, that sounded plausible, didn't it?

"It's only a game," Teddy laughed. "You don't have to marry him."

"KISS HIM, KISS HIM, KISS HIM, KISS HIM…." The chanting began.

Draco pulled his broom next to Harry's, facing in the opposite direction. He smirked and shrugged as if to say, 'What the heck, let's just do it'.

"Tongue, boys, I want to see some tongue," Adrian smiled, licking his lips.

Harry's belly did strange flip flops inside as Draco leaned towards his face, eyes flickering to Harry's lips. Harry closed his eyes and felt soft, dry lips pressed to his, pecking softly for a response. Harry puckered finally, returning the pecks, which soon morphed into firmer, longer, wetter kisses.

Draco groaned and grasped Harry behind the neck, pulling him more firmly onto his lips, opening his mouth further for his tongue to sweep out.

"Hmmm…" Harry moaned, knowing this was wrong, but unable to stop the flood of sensation filling his body. Malfoy? He was snogging fucking Malfoy. It seemed almost pointless to resist, to stifle his own pleasure, so Harry's tongue met with Draco's in a sensual dance as the kiss deepened. Harry felt Draco's other hand caressing his bare chest as they kissed, sending pleasurable chills over his body.

It seemed it was over too soon when Warrington announced, "Three minutes are up." Time had slipped by unnoticed by the two young men.

The two boys pulled back slightly, panting. It was then Harry noticed his hands were grasping Malfoy's thighs as he had leaned into their kiss. He now withdrew them as Draco withdrew his own hands. It was an awkward moment as they both smoothed their hair and adjusted themselves on their brooms, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Mmmm… that was hot," Adrian sighed.

Glancing around, Harry could see lustful, glassy eyes all around him, some of the blokes sporting hard-ons. Harry cleared his throat, trying to avoid direct eye contact with anyone for very long. There was some sort of strange atmosphere of lust growing.

And that's when he caught sight of the snitch. Thank Gods - a way out of this uncomfortable situation. Harry shot after it, startling the others into action.

"Go, Harry!" Warrington cheered.

Harry could hear Draco swearing behind him as he tried to catch up. So Draco thought he wasn't fast enough, did he? Harry smiled, drunk with determination. The snitch was a few inches from his grasp, but they were headed for the wall of the room at breakneck speed.

"HARRY, WATCH OUT!" he heard someone yell .

Harry grasped the snitch, and flipped over, barely missing a crippling smack against the wall. He flew to the center of the field, holding the snitch high.

"We won!" Harry yelled, grinning, and happy he would not have to be subject to anymore 'stakes' now that he had ended the game.

They all landed on the field, the skins grasping Harry and lifting him, carrying him around in victory. When they placed him down, Draco stalked over.

"Are you fucking nuts? You could have killed yourself with a move like that. You were inches away from death."

Adrian frowned at Draco. "You sound like my wife."

Warrington laughed, "It was bloody brilliant. You should definitely try out for the team this year, Harry."

"Where'd you learn to fly like that?" Goyle asked, perplexed.

Great, the old Harry was a crappy flyer, Harry sighed. Another thing to lie about. "I told you, I practiced a lot this summer."

"I'd say you did," Teddy smiled, clapping him on the back. "Let's go get a Room of Pleasures everyone."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

Adrian stood on the other side of Harry, placing an arm about him as well. "It's only the best thing about this club - whores, whores, and more whores. Oh, and did I mention, whores?"

"Wait! You just said you had a wife." Harry mentioned.

"So?" Adrian replied. "Everyone here over the age of eighteen has a wife. What has that got to do with anything?"

Harry looked about at the older blokes that were no longer in school. There were many nods of agreement and shrugs.

"Everyone? But… eighteen is so young…" Harry pondered, still buzzed from the alchohol. "And you still take up with whores, knowing your married?"

Everyone around him laughed. Harry didn't see what was so funny.

Adrian hugged him. "Harry, you're so cute, you know."

Harry tried to push away. "Am not!" he struggled.

"Yes, you are. But I suppose you can be forgiven for your naivety. After all, the marriage laws don't apply to half-bloods. You don't have to dread turning eighteen and being forced to marry some harridan," Adrian said, caressing Harry's arm.

Harry wanted to ask why they had to get married, but he knew that the other Harry would probably already know and to ask further would expose his differences. He made a mental note to ask Tally later.

So Harry bit his tongue, keeping his questions to himself as he followed the group, pondering if he was going to lose his virginity with a whore tonight. It wasn't exactly how he saw his first time, but he was getting older and he new loads of blokes his age back in his world that had already been having sex for a few years. Harry thought about himself, and why he hadn't pursued it as much as some of his friends did. They were always talking about getting in some girl's pants or another.

Harry didn't see relationships that way, he supposed. Maybe he was a romantic? He enjoyed the cuddling and sweetness he had with Ginny, but he didn't recall scheming to get in her knickers. He just didn't think of her that way. Kissing her wasn't the same as…

Wait! What was he thinking? The same as Malfoy? The feeling of butterflies in his stomach, the pounding of his heart in his chest, his temperature rising, the breathlessness - those things didn't happen with Ginny. But they did happen with Malfoy. Merlin, he might be gay, after all!

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Draco, who was walking a few steps behind him. Their eyes met a moment before Draco looked away and smirked.

The group suddenly stopped at a desk with an attendant behind it. "Yes, gentlemen, how can I be of service?"

"We need a Room of Pleasures, please," Theodore ordered.

"Of course, sir," the attendant nodded. "How many males and how many females would you enjoy?"

Theodore looked around at the group. "How about ten of each."

Warrington laughed, clapping Teddy on the back. "By Gods, Nott, you randy bastard."

"Hey, it's a party, isn't it?" Teddy laughed. "And give us some of those purple potion phials too - one for each of us."

"Of course, sir," the attendant replied, turning and opening a cupboard. He pulled out a box of phials filled with purple fluid..

"What kind of potion is that?" Harry asked.

"Just a little something to relax you and loosen you up a bit," Teddy grinned, mysteriously.

OOOOOO

A/N So, more revelations for Harry - about this world and about himself. I hoped you liked this chapter. Lots more good stuff still to come.

Please review and tell me your thoughts on this fiction so far. I do value them. Thanks!


	5. A Bit of a Snag

A/N Sorry it's been ages. I haven't forgotten this story. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

**A Bit of a Snag**

"Harry?" a voice said while a hand shook him awake. "Harry?"

Harry slowly regained consciousness, his eyelids feeling as though they had been glued shut. He scrunched his forehead and mumbled, "Just a few more minutes…"

"Harry, wake up. We have a full day ahead of us," the voice continued. "Hand me that potion."

Harry was barely aware of people moving around him and then he felt a glass pressed to his lips and his head lifted from behind.

"Drink this, Harry," the voice urged.

A cool liquid filled his mouth, waking Harry further as he tried to get his eyes open. The voice seemed very familiar, so Harry trustingly swallowed. He felt the liquid flow through his body, waking him up further. He cracked open his eyes and focused on the face leaning over him.

"Sirius?" Harry croaked.

"Good morning," Sirius grinned. "You had quite a night. How many purple phials did you consume?"

"I think he had about three and a load of shots," a voice off to the side said.

Harry turned his head a bit and squinted at the sight of Slytherins sitting around, disheveled from the night's festivities, cups of coffee and potions in their hands. Goyle had a silver bucket in his grip in which he kept under his chin as he got ready to vomit.

"Three?" Sirius frowned. "Can you remember your party at all?"

Could he? Harry sighed heavily and shut his eyes again. He remembered more than he cared to.

He remembered entering the Room of Pleasures with the others, all of them consuming a phial of purple liquid. Harry had immediately felt real good and relaxed, finding himself laughing along with the Slytherins.

There were beds all around the room, huge pillows on the floor surrounding a bathing pool and tables loaded with food and drink. Harry remembered the 'whores' coming into the room, both men and women. They were all very attractive and they mingled with everyone immediately, flirting and allowing the boys to touch them in any manner they desired.

Harry remembered feeling increasingly uncomfortable as his 'friends' began falling onto the beds with the whores in increasing numbers and clothing began to be scarce.

He remembered a pretty redheaded woman asking Harry for a dance and pressing herself against him, her hands wandering over his arse as she nuzzled his neck. He remembered trying to avoid watching the others in various states of undress. When the redhead tried to pull him over to a bed, Harry had excused himself to get another phial of purple liquid. He left the room, his nerves shaken. What the hell was he doing?

"Sir?" the proprietor had inquired, surprised Harry had left the room. "Is there something I can do for you?"

Harry remember asking for another phial.

"You must be careful, sir," the proprietor said. "One phial relaxes, two phials will intoxicate, and three will make you forget everything."

"Yeah," Harry had snapped his fingers impatiently. "Just give me another." He knew he'd have to be drunk for that orgy that was starting in there. The door opened behind him and Theodore stuck his head out.

"Harry? Where are you going? Get back in here."

Harry quickly swallowed the potion, immediately feeling like the ground was coming up beneath him. He felt Theodore put an arm around him to steady him.

"Whoa, Harry," Theodore laughed, "you lush." He lead Harry back into the room, shutting the door behind them. "I know what your problem is. That girl just doesn't do it for you. But I know what you'll like. Come on."

The Slytherin had led Harry to a bed in which a very good looking bloke lay, tan and cut, with a sexy smile just for Harry. He patted the bed with his hand, wanting Harry to lay next to him.

Harry was feeling the giddy effects of the potion and began laughing at the sight of a bloke wanting him on the bed. Somehow it just seemed funny.

"Go on," Theodore urged, shoving Harry onto the bed as he was anxious to get back to the two girls waiting for him on another bed. "Merlin, Harry, no more potions or booze for you, yeah?"

Then Harry remembered lips kissing his neck and hands wandering over his body. Before he knew it, his clothing had been removed, and a mouth was on him, doing exquisite things to his cock. Everything had seemed a blur from that point on, but he did remember enjoying that very much.

And he remembered Zabini coming to sit on the edge of the bed, watching, his eyes wandering over Harry's body and finally landing on Harry's face. Zabini was drunk too, but not as sloshed as Harry.

Harry remember him saying, "You make me regret breaking up with you."

And Harry remembered telling him to fuck off, watching as Zabini got up and left to join another group of naked people.

Then Harry's eyes had connected with another on the next bed. Malfoy had been watching his exchange with Zabini, his face expressionless. Malfoy had one female and one male on his bed, licking and sucking on various parts of his body. When he found that Harry had noticed his eavesdropping, he turned his face away, feigning interest in his whores.

Harry remembered the orgasm, the whore swallowing his release. He remembered him working his way up Harry's body, and asking if Harry wanted to fuck him or if he wanted to be fucked.

He remembered feeling confused. What did he want? Truth was, he didn't know. He was having gay sex and that surprisingly didn't bother him. And it didn't seem to bother anyone else, either. Harry sat up in the bed, ignoring the amorous whore, and looked about at all the other beds. Many of the Slytherins were already pounding away inside of both females and males. Sex didn't seem to have very much meaning to them outside of the pure animal pleasure of it.

And he felt Malfoy's eyes on him again and he this time he said, "What?"

"You don't have to, you know." Malfoy stated.

Harry's eyes scanned the room again. Watching the expressions of release and pleasure on the faces of the others. "Don't I?"

"No, you don't."

"Are you going to?"

Malfoy stared at Harry a few more moments before a familiar smirk formed. He didn't answer Harry's question with words. He grabbed the girl on his bed and brought her over him to straddle his hips. She lowered onto Malfoy's erection.

Harry frowned, glancing down at his male whore who was now kissing Harry's chest, paying special attention to his nipples. Harry pushed him away and sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand through his hair shakily.

"It's just sex," Malfoy said, the girl slowly moving up and down over him. "It means nothing."

"Then why do it?" Harry replied, his head spinning with the booze and potions.

"Are you daft? Because it feels good," Malfoy replied.

"If it's so wonderful, how can you be talking to me at the same time?"

Then Malfoy grinned and said, "Because, it could be better. It could be you."

And Harry remembered the hot kiss they had shared earlier and Malfoy's words made him nervous. "Bloody hell," Harry swore. Now Malfoy was coming on to him. Harry stood and stumbled toward the door again. This time a pair of arms went around him and someone was hugging him from behind, preventing him from leaving.

"Where do you think you're going, sexy?" Adrian's voice whispered next to his ear. "You can't leave your party."

Harry shut his eyes as Adrian's hand came around his erection. Wait… he was erect? How…? "I can't do this," Harry panted. "I'm not one of you."

Adrian chuckled against his neck. "Of course you are." His hand released Harry's penis and he moved around Harry's body, coming face to face with him. "O.K., love, I understand you may have a problem with casual sex. You're a relationship guy, yeah?"

Harry nodded.

Adrian smiled. "Then… one more potion ought to help with that." He walked Harry to the door, flinging it open and calling for one more. He held it to Harry's lips and encouraged him to swallow it.

Harry was at the point of not caring. The last thing Harry remembered about that crazy night was Theodore's angry voice yelling, "Adrian! Fuck! That's his third!"

And then Adrian saying, his face stricken, "It is? Harry, I'm sorry. Damn it."

And that was it. He remembered no more of what happened.

Harry opened his eyes again and studied Sirius' curious face. "Need another pep-up potion?" his godfather asked.

Harry glanced down and noticed he was naked under the covers of the bed, but there was not a whore in sight, thank goodness. He wondered if he was still a virgin or not. Oh, Merlin. He glanced nervously at the Slytherins around him. What if he had sex with one of them?

"Harry?" Sirius pressed, worry starting to cross his face.

"Sorry," Harry said. "Um… no, I don't want to take anymore potions. I think I've had enough."

"I'd say you did," Theo laughed.

Harry sat up slowly, shifting a bit to see if his bum was sore. By Gods, if someone buggered him…

"Can you wait outside a bit? I'll be there shortly," he said to Sirius. He really didn't want Sirius in on the conversation he was about to have. This was embarrassing enough.

"You sure you're all right?" Sirius asked, worried.

"Yeah, fine."

The older man nodded and got up. "Gentlemen," he addressed the crowd, "I hope you enjoyed yourselves."

"It was a fantastic party, Mr. Black, thank you," Warrington replied, earning nods from the rest of the crowd.

When Sirius left the room, Harry frowned at the others.

"So, what happened after that third phial? I want the truth. Did one of you slimy fuckers bugger me?"

"Good morning to you, too, Harry," Theodore said, causing the others to laugh.

"Slimy? Honestly, Harry, you've wounded me," Adrian replied from the floor, a cold pack on his forehead.

"Should we tell him?" Goyle teased.

"Tell him what? That he sucked every dick here and then begged us all to fuck him?" Warrington replied. "Harry, I never knew you were such a slag until last night."

Everyone laughed, except Harry, who sat there wide eyed, pale, and in shock. "I… what…," he stammered, feeling ill to his stomach.

"Cut it out," Draco ordered, "stop fucking with him." He turned to Harry. "Nothing happened, Harry. You passed out. We tucked you into bed and went on with our fun."

Harry heaved a sigh of relief.

"Though Adrian almost molested you," Blaise added, accusingly.

"Almost being the key word," Adrian defended. "Sorry, Harry, but you're body is quite magnificent. The temptation was great. But Draco, here, knocked some sense into me before I did anything."

Harry glanced at Draco, who had his eyes shut, leaning against the wall, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand.

"Thanks," Harry said.

Draco pried open one eye. "No problem."

OOOO

When Harry met Sirius outside the club, he asked, "Where's my father?"

"He's home dealing with the snake and the muggle girl," Sirius replied. "You well enough to shop for your school things today?"

"I just need a few hours of sleep."

And after porting home, Harry passed out on his luxurious bed as he barely had any energy left in him.

OOOOO

He awoke hours later to the smell of hot soup wafting through the air. Sitting up he noticed a tray with a light lunch on it and Tally standing next to the bed, wringing her hand worriedly.

"Is Master better?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think," Harry stretched. "What time is it?"

"Noon, sir. Tally fed your snake, Master."

"What about the muggle girl?"

"She's sleeping. Tally gave her a potion to make her sleep until we are ready to wake her."

"Is she hurt at all?"

"Not anymore, sir, Tally healed her."

Harry nodded, grabbing a roll off the tray and nibbling at it. "Thanks, Tally."

Tally seemed pleased at Harry's gratitude. It was something she never received from the old Harry. "You're welcome," she smiled.

"You know," Harry continued, waving his roll through the air as he talked, "it's time we made our plans. This world of yours… well, it's all kinds of messed up - Voldemort running the place, my parents split, my dad and Sirius Slytherins, and me, too, apparently. All my so called friends are gay and, so am I, apparently. It's all one big sausage fest. And that reminds me… where the bloody hell are all the women? Don't tell me they're all whores and slaves."

"Oh, no, sir… not all. Men have wives."

"Yeah, but they don't seem to care about them. What is all this about forcing purebloods to marry at eighteen?"

"Our Lord wants more purebloods, so they must marry and have babies. But Master does not have to marry. Only if he wants to. Half bloods have a choice."

"And why are so many gay?"

Tally scrunched her forehead to think. "Our Lord makes many rules against man and woman relationships, sir. He says pureblood women are for making babies only - not for pleasures. There are bad punishments for those who have pleasures with pureblood women that are not their wives."

"So those whores at the club… they are not pureblood I presume?"

"Oh, no, sir, that would be very, very bad," Tally shook her head with wide eyes. "Gentlemen who want pleasures with women who are not their wives must choose lowly born ones. But there are not enough of those around because our Lord made many leave the magical world, or had them killed, after the war. That is why more men take pleasures with other men. Our Lord says that is good because he likes to take pleasures with men too."

Harry crinkled his nose. "That is too much information."

"Sorry, Master."

"Don't worry about it," Harry replied, taking a few sips of the soup. It was really quite good. "Let's discuss how we are going to break the news to James and Sirius about their Harry's death. It's not going to be an easy thing, but they do need to know. I'll make sure they don't blame you, though, so don't worry. Then you'll need to open that portal back up. I've got to get back to my world before they start to panic over my absence."

Tally began so swerve on her toes, making a low wail as she twisted her fingers nervously.

"Tally? What is it?"

"Sir…,"

"Yes?"

"Tally cannot open the portal again so soon," she squeaked, ducking away as if dodging the blow from Harry she had expected.

Harry stared at her a moment, dread filling his chest. He sat up straighter. "What do you mean? When can you open it? How much time does it take?"

"Well, sir, you see… Tally used a Kortle seed to open the portal. The portal takes the Kortle seed away. Tally had only one."

"Where can you get more Kortle seeds? If you need me to go fetch one, I will. I can't stay here, Tally, this place is a nightmare."

Tally bit her lip, her eyes watering. "Master doesn't like it here?"

"Look, living under the rule of that madman is unbearable. And everything is so topsy-turvy here. I'm not use to this kind of life and I don't want to get use to it. What's more, I have to get back to my world to prevent the same thing from happening there."

"But… your family is dead, Harry Potter. So many are dead. Isn't it better here where everyone is alive?"

Harry shook his head. "They are alive, but they are oppressed, Tally. James, well, he's not the man my real father was. He's sad and unhappy. And, my mother? How can she be happy being torn away from her husband and son? They are alive, yes, but they aren't really 'living'."

A tear rolled downed the elf's face. "I would miss you, sir. You are kinder than my old Master."

"Thanks, Tally, but I don't belong here. My offer still stands if you want to come with me to my world. You certainly are more agreeable to be around than Kreacher. But, now, back to this Kortle seed we need. How can we get another?"

Tally shook her head. "I don't know, Master. Tally had that Kortle seed all her life. Tally's family passed it down to her. They are very rare. Long ago all the Kortle bushes were destroyed because opening the portals was outlawed. Very hard to find Kortle seeds. If one has a Kortle seed, they keep it very, very secret or they will have big trouble."

"You knew all this before I stepped into that portal and you didn't tell me?" Harry asked, his temper rising.

Tally turned and grabbed Harry's boot that was lying next to the bed and began to strike herself repeatedly with it, crying, "Bad, Tally, bad, bad, bad."

Harry reached over and grabbed it from her hand, tossing it aside. "Stop that!"

Fat tears rolled down her cheek. "Tally is so sorry, Master. But I had to get you here. I was afraid of punishment and Tally thought you would be happy and you would want to stay. Tally is a bad, bad elf, sir."

It was hard to be angry at someone when they were already so hard on themselves. Harry lay back on the pillows with a heavy sigh.

"Master? Couldn't you try to be happy here? You have a good home and a family that loves you. Everyone you love is dead in your world. That is bad worse."

Harry slowly shook his head. "No, Tally, it is not worse. There are still people who love me in my world. Maybe not the ones that love me here, but there are good people in my world who do. And those people… they are depending on me to help them win the war. I can't ignore them and leave them to their fates and still respect myself. I would despise myself. Can you understand that?"

"You are young, Master. Why would they expect so much of you? Why must you be the one to win a war? Are all the adults dead in your world?"

"No, of course not. But in my world, there was a prophecy about a baby who would defeat the Dark Lord. He found out it was me. Then he killed my parents and tried to kill me. And because the killing curse backfired, he ended up temporarily destroyed and I ended up with some of his abilities. You see, I'm the one who is in the prophecy. I'm the one who needs to defeat him. There is no one else."

"You care so much for others?"

"Yes, Tally, I do."

The elf nodded her head slowly. "Tally understands. You are very different from my Harry, sir."

Harry glanced out the window. "It's strange, isn't it? I always felt somewhat sorry for myself because I wasn't raised by my parents. In fact, I was raised by people that hated me. Yet, it's made me who I am today. Somehow, it doesn't seem like such a bad thing anymore."

"No, not a bad thing," Tally agreed

Harry studied the sad elf a moment. "Tally, if you find me another Kortle seed, I will ask them to release you to me and you can come back with me to my world. I have a friend there, you see, who is very big on the rights of house elves and makes sure they are treated well. I could find a good place for you, or, you could remain my elf if you wish. It would be your choice."

"Tally would have choices?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, I'd make sure of it."

She began to cry again. "You would take a bad elf like Tally, sir? Why?"

"Because I believe we could be good friends."

"Friends? Friends with Tally?"

Harry nodded, watching her shuffle her feet. "Will you help me, Tally? Will you be my friend?"

"Tally would like to be your friend, sir, but it will take time to find a Kortle seed. Maybe lots of time."

Harry swung his legs out of bed, staring at the wall while thinking. He really had no choice, did he? He'd have to stay in this world until Tally had located another Kortle seed. Maybe he could help her search? "I'll help you."

Tally shook her head vehemently. "Oh, no, sir. You can not miss school to look for an illegal seed. All will wonder and worry. They will send wizards to find you. You must not behave different from everyone one. All watch, all see one another. It will be bad for your family. You must act ordinary."

"I need to continue on with this ruse, then?" Harry huffed. "Fine, fine. But, you need to swear to me that you will spend all your time searching and contact me as soon as you've found one. If I find out you've been stalling and taking your time, I'll have to tell James about his Harry. I really need to get back to my world, Tally. It's urgent. Swear to me you will look hard everyday."

"I swear."

OOOOOO

A/N Yay! I finally got this chapter out to you. I'll try to update faster next time. Please let me know your thoughts on the story. It's very motivating for me when people write. Thanks!


	6. Long Live Our Lord

A/N: A big thank you to those who sent reviews. They are very motivating for me. This chapter is for you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

Long Live Our Lord

That afternoon Harry found himself shopping for his school supplies with James, Sirius, and Regulus in Diagon Alley. There were the same types of shops in his dimension, though the names over the doors were different. Another difference, he noticed, was the segregation in all the shops. There were separate areas in shops and separate registers, one for pure-bloods and the other for everyone else. And, though, technically Harry was a half-blood, the men he was with weren't. And so they were afforded the best of everything - merchandise and service. Not that any of this surprised Harry at this point.

When they had covered all the supplies on the list, James announced that they were going to stop at the The House of Healing to have Harry's head injury examined. At that point Regulus excused himself as he had a council meeting to attend. Both James and Sirius looked concerned, remembering the topic of Harry's parseltongue was to be discussed at the meeting.

As the three of them walked into the healers, Harry wondered if this was their equivalent of St. Mungos. Again, Harry received prompt service, being escorted to the front of the line ahead of all the others waiting. He was dying to ask James and Sirius why they were more important than the others here, but again, he had to hold his tongue. Another thing to ask Tally about later on, he thought, which reminded him…

"By the way," Harry said, as they were waiting for the healer to arrive in their examination room, "I've sent Tally to gather some special potion ingredients for me so I can impress Professor Snape with my advanced skills. She may be gone a few days, depending on how successful she is. They are quite rare ingredients." There. That sounded plausible, didn't it? After all, he was suppose to be the potion master's favorite student. "I hope it doesn't cause a problem for the household."

"That's fine, Harry," Sirius replied. "The other elves will take up the slack."

Other elves? Harry had only seen Tally thus far. Harry nodded in response. "By the way, when am I due at school?"

James and Sirius gave him a funny look, as if he should already know the answer to that question. "The train leaves tomorrow, remember?" James replied. "Perhaps that knock on the head is worse than we thought."

Before Harry could respond, the healer stepped in, bowing in greeting. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am Healer Hopkins. How may I be of service?"

"My son had a flying accident yesterday morning. Seems he hit a tree very hard with his head. Our house elf did her best to patch him up, but he seems to be a bit… off."

"Oh? Let's take a look, shall we. Please lay down on the table, Mr. Potter," the healer instructed, gesturing with his hand. "Were you unconscious at any point?"

"Um… yes, I was," Harry replied as he lay down. "My elf used her magic to bring me back. She thought I was going to die."

"Indeed? Elf magic…" he contemplated as he began moving his wand slowly over Harry's head. "Seems you have a glamour spell."

"Shit!" Harry swore, as the glamour which hid his glasses faded and the brown frame became visible.

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, startled. "Harry? We had your eyes healed long ago."

Harry sat up on the table, pushing the healer's wand aside. But the healer still hovered, reaching up with his other hand to trace Harry's scar with his finger. Harry could only guess that the glamour disappeared from his scar as well.

James stood and peered closer at it. "Is that where you were injured?"

Perfect, Harry thought. "Yes, it was. And my vision is blurred. That's why I was so late coming home that day. I made Tally take me to get these spectacles. She glamoured everything before we came home so that you wouldn't see and worry. We thought you might cancel my party if you thought my injury was bad enough. I'm sorry."

James sighed heavily. "Harry, you shouldn't play with your health and well being like that. You should have been honest."

"I know. And I'm sorry. I just didn't want to miss my party."

"Healer Hopkins, can these types head injuries cause changes in personality and behavior?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, such things can occur. Yet, I'd like to examine that scar further. I thought I saw a magical signature that..."

"Of course there is a magical signature. My elf healed me with her magic," Harry interrupted, not needing anymore revelations coming to light.

"Harry, I think you should let Healer Hopkins continue with his examination," James said. "If we have to force you to take better care of yourself, we will."

Healer Hopkins raised his wand again, and once more Harry knocked it away with his hand, glaring.

"Harry!" James snapped. "Why are you being so difficult? Let the healer do his job."

"I told you I'm fine," Harry snapped back. But James did not seem like he would back down from this anytime soon. Harry huffed. "Fine! But I want the two of you to wait outside the room. You are driving me mad with your hovering."

"We are just concerned, Harry," Sirius frowned.

"Please. I'm an adult now and I'd like it if I didn't get treated like was five years old. May I please finished this examination privately."

James and Sirius met eyes before nodding at Harry. "All right," James said. "You may have your privacy. But you must tell us everything afterwards."

"Of course," Harry replied, relieved.

As soon as the door shut behind the two men, Harry glared once again at Healer Hopkins. "I want you to tell them that you examined me and, apart from possible lapses in memory, I'll be perfectly fine."

"Mr. Potter, that is not your call to make!"

"It's my body and my life."

They both stared stubbornly at one another in silence until Healer Hopkins said, "Do they know what a skilled liar you are?"

"It's out of necessity."

The healer raised one eyebrow. "Really? Tell me then, how you really came by that scar. That scar is not recent. I suspect you've had it a very long time."

"You don't need to know that. I'm not here about the past."

"In all my years as a healer, I have never seen a scar pulse with the kind of dark magic yours does. I'm beginning to suspect it is not just a scar."

"Oh? What is it then?" Harry asked, sarcastically.

"If I were to make a judgment on the spot, I'd say it is some sort of curse or a hex. What age were you when you received it? What do you remember about the incident?"

Harry shrugged. "Look, I'm not giving my life story to a stranger. I don't want it healed. Whatever it is, I need to keep it." As much as Harry hated the pain and the connection to Voldemort's mind, he was smart enough to know that the abilities he had gained when Voldemort tried to kill him were valuable tools to use in the war back home. He knew he'd have to take the suffering in order to gain the advantage the scar gave him.

Healer Hopkins appeared exasperated. "You're a difficult young wizard, Mr. Potter. Whatever your reservations, I would like to take a closer look - if only in the name of furthering my knowledge of these matters. Would you consider allowing me to look. I promise I won't lift your curse, if that is your wish."

To tell the truth, Harry was a bit curious as to what the healer might find. "I will only let you examine it if you make the unbreakable vow to me that you will never tell another soul, besides me, what you find."

His eyes went wide. "Goodness, Mr. Potter, I already told you that the visit is confidential."

"Then I suppose this concludes our visit," Harry replied, slipping off the table and heading for the door.

"Wait!" Healer Hopkins exclaimed. "All right. I agree."

It was Harry's turn to be surprised. "Really? You'll do it?" He really hadn't thought the healer would agree to something so serious.

The healer nodded. "Please. Let's just get this over with."

OOOOOO

It was over an hour later when Harry and Healer Hopkins emerged from the examination room, causing James and Sirius to rise to their feet.

"Merlin, Harry," Sirius began, "we were getting really worried. What news do you have for us?"

"Young Mr. Potter is just fine, just fine," Hopkins announced.

"All that time in there for 'just fine'?" James asked.

"I had to make sure the examination was very thorough. You can't rush these matters you know. It appears your elf did a fine job healing, but for the eyesight. He may suffer some temporary gaps in memory, but that will return with time."

James nodded, reaching up to touch Harry's scar, but pulling away before he did so. "All right. Thank you Healer Hopkins. Come along Harry."

As the three of them walked away, Harry lagged behind a bit and turned to look at the healer. Hopkins was staring back at Harry, and gave him a slight nod.

Harry followed the two men quietly as they made their way down the street. His mind was a jumble of thoughts and his gut clenched at the nagging realizations that were starting to form in his mind. The words of the healer haunted every step he took.

" It's as if there are two of you in there, Mr. Potter. Something, or someone, has taken up residence within you."

Sirius glanced over his shoulder at Harry. "You all right there, Harry?"

Harry was started out of his thoughts. Was he all right? No, he was not all right! It had just dawned on him that he might be a bloody horcrux! Merlin help him. He was suppose to destroy all the horcruxes in his world. So what would this mean now? He'd have to destroy himself?

"I'm just tired," he mumbled.

"It's been a long day," Sirius agreed. "Let's go home."

OOOOOO

Vincent Crabbe made his way down the center isle of the Hogwarts Express, looking for the trolley witch. It had been over an hour since she had come by and he was getting thirsty again. He didn't want to wait any longer, so he got up and went towards the back of the train.

He disliked leaving the front compartment and having to gaze upon the lower classes in the back. At least the ones he passed in the isle had the good sense to lean away from him, otherwise he would have had to hex them for daring to touch him.

He was almost to the back where the trolley witch was handing out pumpkin juice to some disgusting first years, when he spotting a familiar figure through the window of a compartment. He stepped up closer and peered through, frowning as he gripped the handle and slid the door open.

Curled up asleep on the seat was Harry, all by himself in this back compartment. Crabbe could guess that no one would dare bother a seventh year Slytherin back here. He bent over the sleeping wizard and shook his shoulder.

"Harry? Wake up."

"Hmm?" Harry mumbled.

"What the hell are you doing back here? We thought you had missed the train. No one saw you get on at all." Crabbe sat his heavy frame down across on the opposite bench, grimacing at Harry. "You look like shit."

"Fuck off. I'm too tired to answer all your questions. I didn't get any sleep last night."

Crabbe's smile grew. "You played with that muggle girl all night didn't you? Did you fuck her? No, wait, you don't like girls. Tortured? Did you finally feed her to the big snake?"

"Shut your evil pie hole. Can't you just let me fucking sleep?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Vincent scowled.

"I already told you. I'm tired. I just want to sleep, not sit around and talk to you prats."

Crabbe got to his feet. "Prats? Fuck you, Harry. I hope some low-borns ass rape you back here." He left the compartment, slamming the door.

Harry turned over on his back. What an idiot he was! He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out his invisible glasses which another of Sirius' house elves had reapplied the glamour to. James had promised to take Harry to an another eye healer on his next visit home from Hogwarts as they had ran out of time to do so yesterday. He had also had the scar glamoured again so he wouldn't have so many questions to answer.

Harry sat up, his legs bent on the bench as he leaned against the window. He shouldn't be here. He was wasting time while Voldemort was destroying the world he loved back home. He wasn't even planning on attending school seventh year in his world. He had to get back and start looking for the Horcruxes. And, unfortunately, he might have found one yesterday. He glanced over his shoulder at his reflection in the window. Could it really be true? He had a piece of Voldemort's soul inside of him? He didn't want to believe it, but if he put all the pieces of evidence together, then all signs pointed to it being true.

After crying his frustrations out most of the night, he had come to the decision in the early dawn hours that he would find all the other horcruxes, destroy them, and then, perhaps, he'd be able to find someway to get Voldemort's soul remnant out of his body. There had to be a way to exorcise it. But he worried that the remnant would find its way back to Voldemort and strengthen him. But could he make the ultimate sacrifice? Would he give up his own life just to make that madman more vulnerable? Would it even work if he did?

He was wondering if the Voldemort in this reality had made any horcruxes when the door slid open again revealing Blaise Zabini. He scanned Harry's disheveled appearance with concern. "You all right, Harry? Vincent said you were in a foul mood, but I chanced coming back here anyway."

Harry sighed. He wouldn't be able to hide forever. "Yeah, I was a bit over the top. I had a rough night, is all."

"Are you avoiding us?"

"No. Honestly, I just needed to sleep."

"We would have let you sleep. Gregory and Teddy are snoring away up there. You didn't have to disgrace yourself by coming back here."

"Disgrace myself?"

Blaise looked over his shoulder in disgust at some passing students. "Yes, in the low-born cars."

There was that word again. 'Low-born' Harry wondered what that was since muggleborns were no longer allowed to attend school. It couldn't be half-bloods, since the Slytherins didn't consider Harry low-born. It was another thing Harry couldn't ask about without giving himself away. It would certainly help to have Tally with him 24/7, but she was on her quest to find a Kortle seed which was far more important.

Blaise gestured with his hand. "Come on. We'll let you sleep. I promise. Just get out this part of the train."

"Fine, if it will stop everyone from bothering me," Harry huffed, rising to his feet and squeezing past Blaise who didn't move out of the way. Harry got the feeling that Blaise enjoyed the brush of their bodies as Harry went by him, his eyes sweeping Harry's body up and down. Harry could imagine Blaise was eyeing his bum all the way to the front of the train.

When they entered the front car of the train, Harry paused a moment to take in the lavish décor - a feature definitely absent from the Hogwart's express in his world. As he sat down in a seat next to the window, he began to realize that 'low-born' most likely had something to do with wealth. Across from him sat a sleeping Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy engrossed in a newspaper. Blaise seated himself directly next to Harry, a little too close for comfort.

Draco lowered his paper and looked at Harry appraisingly. "Slumming it?"

"I'm not in the mood to give a shit right now," Harry grumbled, pulling his robe over his head as the other two boys watched, revealing a tight fitting t-shirt that emphasized his nicely cut muscles. But Harry was oblivious to their gaze as he rolled up his robe and placed it against the window for a make-shift pillow. He immediately shut his eyes, hoping they wouldn't try to engage him in further conversation.

"Suit yourself," Draco replied. His eyes drifted over to Blaise who was still checking out Harry with interest. This was going to be a possible problem. Harry had finally laid his relationship with Blaise to rest and now Blaise was taking a renewed interest in him.

Honestly, Draco couldn't blame him. Harry had definitely become more interesting over the summer. His hotness factor had increased ten-fold since last spring. It wasn't just the improvements of his body, but his confidence and wit were markedly more abundant. And those things made the total package very alluring. Not to mention he was a parselmouth and hearing him speak it was very sexy.

For the life of him, Draco couldn't figure out how someone could change so very much over a span of a few months. Draco had always been a very hard person to impress. He had the highest standards in their group of friends and, therefore, had never found anyone, male or female, he would consider interesting and appealing enough to spend more than a few nights with. And Harry had always seemed unremarkable in appeal. He was a friend, sure, but he had always been a bit spineless and whiney.

But this 'new' Harry seemed quite the opposite in personality. What could have happened to make him change so drastically? Harry had definitely caught his interest. Something that was rare for Draco.

He glanced again at Blaise, who had now leaned further against an unsuspecting Harry. Draco laughed silently and shook his head. He decided that Blaise would not forge another relationship with Harry. Not until Draco had figured out the growing attraction he felt.

Yes, something definitely happened to Harry this summer. And Draco fully intended to find out what it was.

OOOOO

Harry had to remind himself over and over not to appear surprised at all the differences he saw, but it was one of the most difficult things he had yet to do. Almost everything he observed around him made him want to vehemently declare his objection to. This world was messed up beyond repair, in his honest opinion.

The segregation of the train cars was only a small portion of the growing list of things about this world he found intolerable. Walking into the Great Hall for the welcome feast was another experience that made him want to knock everything over in anger.

First thing he noticed was the table arrangements. Slytherin table sat just under the professor's table, in a spot of honor. It was far more lavishly decorated with silver settings and loaded with gourmet treats. The other three house tables were pushed toward the back of the room, had no table clothes, and appeared to have shoddy wooden plates and settings with only cheese, bread, and goblets of water.

He couldn't help stopping for a moment, staring in shock at the down trodden faces of the other houses as his 'friends' made their way to Slytherin table blissfully ignorant and/or uncaring of the suffering of others.

His eyes fell upon two red heads huddled together at the Gryffindor table. Harry practically gasped out loud at the unkempt, underfed appearance of Ron and Ginny Weasley. They must have felt him staring and raised their heads to look at him. Ron scowled at Harry, and took Ginny's shoulder, turning her away from Harry's gaze.

Harry couldn't help taking a few steps toward them when he was yanked back buy someone who had just grasped his arm. Harry swung around and pulled free, anger on his face.

"Whoa," Blaise held up his hands. "What's wrong with you? Did one of those scum say something to you?"

"Keep your hands off me," Harry growled through clenched teeth.

Blaise seemed shocked for a moment and then hurt. He glanced at the Gryffindor table, trying to see who may have bothered Harry, but none of them met his eyes.

Harry pushed passed Blaise, angrily, stalked over to the Slytherin table in disgust. This place was a disgrace. Why would people even consent to send their children to such a school where they would be treated like dirt? And then it dawned on him that they probably weren't given a choice. No one seemed to have choices in this world. They all did what they were told, or else.

He sat down and grabbed his steak knife, slamming it down into the table and cutting the decadent cloth. Theodore Nott and Gregory Goyle sat across from him, watching him in concern. "Feel better now?" Teddy asked, eyeing the damage to the table.

Harry was so angry, he couldn't even speak. He was afraid of what would come out of his mouth. Blaise sat down next to him, eyeing him warily.

"Tell me who bothered you, Harry," Blaise pressed.

Harry turned his face to him, full of malice. "Ask me that once more, and you won't like the consequence," he hissed.

"Ooohhh," Teddy laughed. "Better back off, Blaise."

Blaise snarled, but kept quiet, causing Draco to stifle a smile. Draco loved Harry's anger at Blaise. It was far sexier than the groveling he displayed last spring. Harry seemed to be turning heads all around. Strong, angry, and hot Harry was the newest sensation, it seemed.

And that was just the first terrible experience of the welcome back feast. The second came shortly as they were all directed to rise as the headmaster and staff entered the hall to be seated. Harry reluctantly rose, feeling the bile rise in his throat as only two professors were recognizable to him. He expected Snape, but the second was worse.

Umbridge.

"What the fuck!" Harry couldn't help saying out loud.

His friends glanced at him, hoping no one else heard their angry friend. Luckily it seemed no one had.

And worst of all, Umbridge went straight to the headmaster's chair. Harry wanted to pitch his steak knife right between her beady little eyes. Harry shut his eyes a moment, willing himself to calm down. This world was exactly the one he needed to prevent happening to his. Everything thus far was completely unacceptable. He'd rather be dead than live in a world like this. He began to think his other, dead self was better off now.

"Please hurry, Tally," he muttered under his breath.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed Snape was staring at him with concern. Harry looked away. Somehow he was going to have to get through this. But first he needed to calm down. His anger was making him stand out too much, he knew that. Another gift from Voldemort - anger extremes.

He glanced around the table, deciding to focus on the food in order to stop listening to the welcome speech of the woman he hated the most in his world. He began singing the Hogwarts song in his mind as she read a letter from 'Their Lord' which was followed by three chants of "Long Live Our Lord." When the tribute to Voldemort ended, everyone was allowed to sit down and begin eating.

The Slytherins seemed to ignore Harry during the feast, as they could sense that he didn't want to bother with anyone right now. But everyone one of Harry's 'friends' covertly watched him as they talked amongst themselves, wondering what had happened to upset Harry this much.

Draco observed him glancing over his shoulder ever so often at the Gryffindor table, but who had caught Harry's attention over there, he couldn't figure out.

It was hard for Harry to see Ron and Ginny so oppressed. It seemed that Neville Longbottom was there as well, but Harry couldn't be sure if it was him or not. He'd need a closer look. He couldn't see too well from here because there was such a wide gap between the privileged table of the Slytherins and the other houses smooshed together in the dark back of the hall.

He also noticed that there was no sorting ceremony. He supposed that everyone in this world already knew their place since birth.

After the feast, Harry silently followed the Slytherins back to where their rooms were. He had no idea where that would be. He just wanted to punch something right now.

One thing he noticed… they were definitely not heading toward the dungeons. They seemed to be climbing the stairs toward the towers where Gryffindor was house in his world. It seemed that Slytherins were in the towers in this world. But there must have been a major remodel when Voldemort won the war because the common room was much larger and more lavish. And, each of them had their own bedroom, opulently decorated. Harry could only guess that the rest of the houses did not come close to this level of luxury.

Harry paused, not knowing which room was his and glanced about as the others headed off to get settled. A guy Harry didn't know was leaning against the back of a sofa, watching Harry with interest.

"Hey, Harry. Did you have a good summer?" he asked.

At least it was a stranger, Harry thought. Someone he didn't hate… yet. "No, not really," Harry replied, honestly.

The boy grinned. "That's too bad. Mine was nice. Traveled quite a bit."

"Yeah? Do you want to talk about it more? In my room, perhaps?" Harry thought this might be the perfect opportunity to have someone lead him to his room unwittingly.

The boy bit his bottom lip and swept his eyes down, blushing a bit. "Sure, we could do that."

He pushed off of the sofa and began walking down the hall with Harry following behind him. When they reached a door, the boy placed his hand on the knob and opened it, pausing.

Harry looked past him into the room, seeing what he saw. Blaise Zabini was standing next to the fireplace looking inquisitively back.

"Conner?" Blaise began. "What are you doing here?"

Harry stepped into room. "The bigger question is what are _you_ doing here? This is my room, isn't it?"

"I wanted to have a word with you," Blaise replied. "In private," he added, glancing at Conner.

"This is not a good time," Harry stated. "Conner was just about to tell me about his summer."

Conner stepped into the room, grinning in triumph at Blaise.

"Harry…" Blaise began.

"Get out," Harry ordered.

Blaise stood shocked a moment. "You're a fucking wanker, Harry, you know that?" He stormed past them, stopping at the door and glaring at Conner. "And _you_ better watch your back."

Harry closed the door, wondering what he was going to do now. Conner obviously thought Harry was coming on to him, but Harry just wanted to find his room. Now what?

Harry flopped down into one of the arm chairs in front of the fire. What a bunch of gay drama this place was. How was he ever going to survive this.

Conner came and sat down in the other arm chair facing him. "You all right?"

Harry rubbed his face wearily before turning his attention to the bloke. "I don't know. It's not been a very good day for me."

"Or a good summer, it seems," Conner commented. "Maybe this day doesn't have to end so bad, though."

Harry sighed at the flirting. "Were we ever friends?" he asked.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Have you ever considered yourself my friend?"

Conner looked at him strangely and shook his head. "Not like your other friends, I suppose. I don't know what you're getting at. We've had a bit of fun with each other, but I don't know if that makes us friends. Do you think it does?"

Oh, great. How many blokes had the other Harry been with?

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Look, I'm a bit exhausted right now. I think I should get some sleep."

"Alone?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

Conner looked disappointed as he stood to go. "It's all right. Some other time then?"

"Sure," Harry replied, wanting to keep things pleasant.

After the door closed behind Conner, Harry let out a heavy breath. By Gods, Tally had better hurry and find that Kortle seed. Gazing at the fire, he wondered if the floo system was available in the room. He doubted he'd have that much freedom around here, but he wondered all the same.

Suddenly the flames crackled and a face appeared in the ashes. "Harry?"

Harry got on his knees and moved closer.

Regulus.

"Yeah?"

"How did your first day back go?"

"Fine," Harry lied. "Is Tally back from the errand I sent her on yet?"

"Tally? No, I haven't seen her."

Harry frowned. "What do you want then?"

"It's the Dark Lord, Harry. He wants to meet you in person."

"What?"

"I'm sorry. Certain members of the council won't let it rest. They went to the Dark Lord and informed him of your parseltongue. He wants to meet you."

"When? Now?"

"No, in a few days time. Headmistress Umbridge will not refuse to let you leave. But I want to meet with you first. I'm coming to Hogwarts tomorrow."

"I guess I can't refuse."

"No, you cannot."

"All right. Whatever. And, if you can do me a favor - let me know the moment Tally gets back."

OOOOO

A/N Wow! I finished another chapter. Miracles do happen. But I think it's because I do enjoy getting reviews again. So, please, don't hesitate. Let me know your thoughts. Thank you!


	7. All Kinds of Messed Up

A/N: Here we go again. Thank you to all of you who reviewed. I loved hearing from you! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

All Kinds of Messed Up

Professor Severus Snape watched Harry with concern the first day of classes. Double potions with the seventh year students was by far his favorite class to teach, but he found himself distracted by Harry's moodiness and inattention. Harry had always enjoyed potions in the past, participated in all the discussions eagerly, and took pride in all his accomplishments. Of course, Severus knew all that enthusiasm was in part due to his own fostering and encouragement of Harry throughout the years.

Not that Harry was always a particularly likeable person. He did have a mean streak at times. But Severus valued the time he had spent perfecting Harry's potion skills with extra sessions after class. The more time he spent with Harry, the more he could bring home to Lily, who was always desperate for any new memories he could share with her in his pensieve at home. It was the only means she had of watching Harry grow throughout the years.

Severus knew Lily would be very concerned when she saw how Harry was behaving. And he didn't want her to have to worry. She did far too much of that as it was. He knew he couldn't hide anything from her. She cherished every memory he brought home to her. Some days she would sit for hours, grabbing phial after phial, watching her son.

Severus asked Harry to come and see him after the rest of his classes had ended, but Harry barely looked at him and only grumbled something about being too busy. Something was definitely wrong. And Lily would never rest until Severus found out what it was.

OOOOO

Harry got through his first day of classes, but his mind was not into it. He tried to distract himself by making plans for the Horcrux search he needed to desperately get back to. He wasn't sure how long he could stand being in this dimension. Everywhere he looked was injustice. Even the classes were segregated in seating arrangements and instruction. Anyone who was not a Slytherin was ignored, and so they kept quiet in the back of the classrooms, withdrawn and sullen.

And even worse, the professors and the Slytherins seemed not to notice the miserable plight of the others. If they did pay them any notice, it was in annoyance and scorn, as if they were pieces of gum that got stuck to the bottom of their shoes. If a member of another house got in the way of a Slytherin walking to class, they were callously pushed aside or sometimes even hexed. None of the Slytherins were ever reprimanded for mistreating the others. Instead, the unfortunates in the other houses were blamed and punished, even if it wasn't their fault.

Harry was ready to go on a rampage by the end of the day. He wasn't one to stand by when so many were getting stepped on. It made him physically ill to hold himself back from sticking up for the underdogs. He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't his world and he didn't want to jeopardize the safety of James and Sirius by coming out against this world's Voldemort and his laws.

"Harry, wait up," Theodore Nott called out, running up next to him. "Where are you headed? Classes are over. Time to meet up with the others."

"I have a visitor," Harry replied, handing the notice to Theodore.

"Already? School's just started and they miss you?" Teddy laughed.

"Something like that."

"All right, see you later then?"

Harry nodded and continued on to the front of the castle where the visitor's parlor was located. Standing within was Regulus, who smiled reassuringly as Harry entered.

"Hello, Harry."

"Regulus," Harry replied, sullenly.

"You all right?"

"What do think? I'm not exactly looking forward to meeting Voldemort."

"Shhhhh," Regulus hissed, stepping closer and looking about to make sure no one was near. He pulled out his wand and cast a privacy bubble around himself and Harry. "Why do speak so callously about him in front of others? That is not wise."

"I hate him and I hate all his stupid laws. I hate what he has done to this world and to your lives."

Regulus stared at Harry, temporarily speechless, and then said, "Was it his birthday gift? Did that offend your sensibilities?"

It was Harry's turn to stare. "Are you daft? Do you think it is just one thing? It's everything. Look around you for once. There are people suffering everywhere. How is that good? How is that acceptable? Why don't you people fight against it?"

Regulus' nostrils flared in anger. "Just what do you expect us to do, Harry? What has gotten into you? Are you suffering in some way? Everything James, Sirius and I have done was to create a life where you would be safe and thrive in. You have had all the privileges afforded by our sacrifices, but it is not enough for you? You want another war? More death, purges, what? You are too young to remember the last war. You have no idea the horrors we had to endure. Anyone who wants to repeat that has to be insane!"

"Do you even care about the others - the less privileged. Do you bother to see their plight?"

"I never said things were perfect. I know others suffer. But sometimes, all you can do is save those you love." Regulus studied Harry's angry stance then shook his head. "You're becoming a man, Harry, with his own ideals of how things should be. It's admirable, but dangerous. You must keep those thoughts to yourself."

Harry took a deep breath and blew it out. " Yeah, sorry, I can get a bit wound up at times. I don't want to be a problem for you."

Regulus reached out and squeezed Harry's shoulder. "You're not a problem," he smiled. "But I wish we didn't have this conversation, not before your meeting with the Dark Lord. I'm concerned, Harry, what memories he may try to pull from your mind."

"Fuck," Harry swore. Voldemort was a skilled Legilimens in this world too. Not good. And for more reasons than Regulus knew. "Why are you risking yourself by talking to me then?"

"I risk myself daily," Regulus replied. "But luckily I have this." He held up his hand, wiggling his ring finger.

Harry guessed that the ring prevented Voldemort from reading Regulus' true thoughts. "Can I borrow it?"

"He'd know. Then it would really raise his suspicions."

"How would he know? Do you think he pays close attention to your jewelry?"

"He's the one who gave it to me. He'd know you're wearing my ring."

"Wait, hang on. Why would he give you a ring to prevent him from reading your thoughts?"

"Because it also prevents others from getting into my mind and learning all he has said and planned in private meetings."

"You're that close to him?"

Regulus looked at Harry, a bit surprised. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

Regulus shook his head. "Nothing. It's not important right now. What is important is your meeting with him tomorrow. Harry, you can't be against him to his face like that. You know that, right?"

Harry reluctantly nodded.

"He's probably going to want to talk to you in parseltongue and ask you many questions. Just answer calmly and truthfully. If he suspects you are lying he may try to read your mind. As an extra precaution, I want you to go to Severus and ask him for a Foggy Memory Elixir. He'll know what that is. Take it right before I come and fetch you at 7 p.m."

"And if he suspects that I took a potion?"

"Then apologize that you're feeling a bit wonky because there was a potion accident in class that day and you're a bit dizzy. And then let's hope that's the last meeting he wants to have with you. Harry, it's important that you try to be… unremarkable, unless you wish to have a future on his staff."

"No thank you," Harry frowned.

Regulus smiled slightly. "I thought you might say that."

OOOOO

"Blimey. No wonder he's been in a right state. When's he meeting with the Dark Lord?" Gregory asked, as he lounged with his friends in their common room.

Theodore had followed Harry to the visitor's parlor earlier and stayed just outside the door, hearing Harry say he wasn't looking forward to meeting Voldemort before the silencing bubble had been cast around him. Once he couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, he went back to meet their circle of friends and reported what he'd heard.

"Don't know," Teddy shrugged.

"I bet it's because of the parseltongue," Blaise added. "Do you think they are relatives?"

"Guess they probably have wizards trying to find out," Vincent speculated.

"He's been such an arse lately. Now we know why," Blaise stated.

"That, and maybe because he's tired of you trying to get into his pants every five minutes," Draco said, tossing Blaise an irritated glare.

"Piss off, Draco," Blaise grimaced. "I had no idea what he's going through. He hasn't exactly been telling us much lately."

"You must admit," Teddy said, "none of us were willing to spend much time with him this summer due to his behavior last spring. Maybe part of that anger is because we ignored him until his party."

"Perhaps it was good for him to spend time on his own," Draco replied. "In my opinion, he seems to have improved himself."

Vincent Crabbe laughed. "Improved himself? Yah, right. Only if you think treating your friends like dirt is an improvement."

"Something happened to him this summer and I suspect it was a lot more than Quidditch practice," Draco added.

"Like what?" Blaise asked.

Draco shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

The door to the common room swung open and Harry entered. He stopped when he noticed his group of Slytherins sitting together and looking at him. Harry sighed, deciding he really needed to work on his acting skills. He was doing a terrible job so far and he knew they all thought he was 'different'.

He strode over to the bunch and flopped down on the sofa between Draco and Theodore. "Hey, everyone, what's up?"

"You tell us," Theodore said.

Harry looked around at all of them, trying to think fast. "Yeah, I know I've been in a shit mood lately. Sorry. It's not anything personal against any of you. It's just… other stuff?"

"Stuff? Like meeting with the Dark Lord?" Gregory asked.

"You know?" Harry said, surprised.

"Well, yeah, word gets around," Theodore said, his eyes shifting around guiltily.

"Apparently," Harry replied.

"When, Harry?" Blaise asked.

"Tomorrow night."

"I've met him before. He came to our home once," Draco added. "It wasn't so bad."

"Did he come to your home with the express desire to drill you with questions?" Harry frowned.

"Point taken," Draco conceded. "But you're a loyal subject, Harry. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about."

Harry couldn't help but release a little bark of incredulous laughter. Loyal subject, indeed.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked.

Harry could only shake his head. "Nothing."

OOOOO

That night as Harry was about to turn off the lights and go to bed, a knock sounded on his door.

When Harry opened it, Blaise was standing there, the shirt of his pajamas unbuttoned. "Can we talk?"

"I was just about to get some sleep."

"Just for a minute," Blaise replied, glancing into the room to make sure that twerp Conner was not there.

Harry sighed, walking away from the door, but leaving it open for Blaise. As Blaise shut it, he said, "Look, Blaise, I kind of get the feeling that you want to be with me, but I'm not feeling that way back. So, if this is about that…"

"Why not? I think it took me this summer to realize that I made a mistake. I shouldn't have gave up on us, Harry. I've really missed you."

Just great, Harry thought. He couldn't talk about the past relationship because he wasn't there for it. He'd have to wing it.

"We had some good times, yeah? But, I just don't feel the same anymore. Can't we be friends now?"

"Is there someone else? Are you into Conner now?"

"No, not at all."

Blaise took a step forward, raising his fingers to Harry's sternum and touching him softly. "Maybe we can start all over again, from scratch. This may sound crazy, but I feel like I barely know you. You seem so different to me somehow. I really want to get to know you all over again, Harry."

Harry grabbed Blaise's wrist and brought his hand down. "I don't want that."

Blaise's eyes hardened a bit. "What do you want then? You want a fuck buddy? No strings? I can be that too, better than Conner can."

"No! Look, I don't want Conner either. I've got too much going on in my life right now. Why can't you understand that? My world is falling apart and all you can think about is fucking."

"Falling apart? What are you on about? What else is going on beside your meeting with the Dark Lord? Why don't you fucking talk about it?" Blaise snapped.

"Because it's my own private business."

Blaise stared at him a moment before turning for the door. "Fine, Harry, keep your secrets. I'm sure they're not that interesting anyway."

Harry released a breath as the door slammed. Hopefully, that conversation would end Blaise's pursuit. He sat down on the edge of his bed, thinking about all the offers for sex lately. It would be so easy to say yes and experiment with it while he was in this dimension. No one back home would ever be the wiser.

His mind kept going back to that kiss with Draco at his birthday party. He actually felt guilty that he had enjoyed it so much. The Draco back home would probably hex him if he tried to kiss him. Harry laid back on the bed and laughed at the thought of Malfoy's angry face, wiping the kiss off with his forearm and sneering, "What the fuck, Potter! I'll fucking kill you for this."

O.K., so Harry could probably admit to himself that he was gay. Why he hadn't realized it before was a mystery to him. He supposed that he had always had more pressing matters on his mind with his constant struggles, that romance had taken a backseat. Nothing really became of his interest in Cho. In retrospect, he probably didn't try hard enough because the desire wasn't strong enough.

And then his relationship with Ginny. As he had already realized, there was a huge difference between kissing her and kissing Draco. Maybe he hadn't realized he was gay until he actually knew the difference. After all, Draco was the first bloke he had ever kissed. And, yes, it was far more exciting than he had ever imagined. Kissing Ginny and Cho - it was sweet and comforting. But kissing Draco… it made him hard and needy for more.

Harry found his hand moving over his abs and onto his cock as he remembered the kiss and the feel of Draco's hands holding his thighs. Closing his eyes, he imagined what it would have felt like if Malfoy would have moved his hands higher. As Harry brought himself off, he pushed the guilt over his desire away.

OOOOO

After classes ended the following day, Harry returned to the potion's classroom to find Professor Snape and do as Regulus requested. This dimension's Snape seemed far less intimidating, in fact, he really seemed to like Harry for some reason. And as Harry began to become accustomed to this world's nicer Snape, his anger upon seeing his face had lessened.

"Professor?" Harry began, catching Snape before he left.

"Harry? I'm glad you're here. I've been meaning to speak to you."

"Oh?" Harry almost laughed. This was quite strange for him.

"Yes," Snape nodded. He waved his wand to shut the door, giving them privacy.

For a moment Harry panicked, hoping he had never slept with Snape in this dimension. But then he saw genuine concern in the older man's eyes.

"I've noticed you've been a bit short with everyone lately. Is everything all right?" Snape inquired.

"Not really, no. I've got to meet with Voldemort tonight and I'm a bit concerned."

Severus froze, staring at Harry. Then he sighed. "Of course, the parseltongue," he remembered. Severus turned and paced a bit. "He may be merely curious. What are your concerns?"

"Perhaps his skill in Legilmancy."

"And what, pray tell, is so interesting about your childhood that he would have to know?"

"Far more than I'd wish him to find out."

Snape turned, meeting Harry's eyes. "I've known you all your life, Harry. There is nothing shocking about your life. It's been quite normal."

Harry knew he'd have to convince Snape that he needed help if he were to receive it. "What if he finds out how much I hate him, how much I loathe this world he rules and what he has done to my family?"

Snape step quickly toward Harry. "Tell me you haven't been talking ill about him! Tell me!"

Harry took a step back, shocked by Snape's vehemence. "Are you going to tell on me?"

"Of course not!" he snapped, surprised at Harry's ignorance. "That would not benefit my situation in the least. Quite the opposite."

It dawned on Harry suddenly. He remembered being told that Lily was cared for by a pardoned half-blood. It had to be Snape!

"Oh," he breathed. "It's you then. Things make more sense now."

Snape stepped away, shutting his eyes a moment. "I know we never spoke of it, but surely you knew." He opened his eyes studying Harry's expression.

"Perhaps," Harry replied, trying not to be as big of a dick as the other Harry had been. According to Tally, the other Harry was ashamed of Lily. But that was the last thing Harry wanted to portray to the man who allegedly loved her. "But I was told it was a forbidden topic. How… how is she?"

Snape cast a silencing spell on the room. "We shouldn't be speaking of this. Not with your meeting tonight."

"Then give me the Foggy Memory Elixer. I'll blame it on a potion's accident if he suspects I've tampered with my mind."

"That takes three days to brew. You know that!" Snape snapped. "Merlin, Harry."

"I thought you might have a supply of it."

"No, I do not."

"Fuck!"

"Do not use such language."

"It's an expression of my frustration. You have to have something I can use, right? I don't want any more trouble for my parents."

"Nor do I."

Harry studied Snape's concerned face. "Do you love her?" he couldn't help asking.

"With everything I am," Snape replied without hesitation.

Harry nodded. "That's good. I'm happy that someone has found happiness in this screwed up world."

The professor's eyes swept down. "She could be happier. She misses you. She loves you more than you'll ever know."

Harry actually felt pain in that moment. Pain that this world's Lily would soon have a dead son to mourn. Harry leaned back heavily against a desk, dreading the day Lily, Sirius, James and Regulus would have to find out about their loss. As if their lives weren't shitty enough. Sometimes, having a family that cared about you was far harder than having one that didn't.

What would they all do when their reason for following the rules was no longer in existence?

He should never have come here. He shouldn't have to care so much for these people. They weren't his people. He had to keep telling himself that over and over.

Harry cleared his throat. "Yeah, so, what do I do about tonight? Should I say I'm not feeling well?"

Snape's expression turned sour. "You cannot ignore a summons by our Lord." He moved toward his potion's cabinet, unlocking and looking at all the phials, thoughtfully. Relocking it, he moved toward the door. "Stay here, I can only think of one thing that may work."

Harry tapped a rhythm on the desk top, waiting a few minutes for Snape to return and hold up a phial of shiny, milky liquid in front of his face.

"Liquid Luck?" Harry inquired, before realizing that it might be called something else in this world.

"Hmmm?" Snape pondered. "I suppose you could call it that. Tell me what you wish to accomplish tonight, then drink it, and it shall be so."

For a moment Harry thought he might wish for Tally to bring him a Kortle seed tonight. "Do I have to say it out loud?"

"Of course. There is power in words."

Harry sighed. "Can I have a few moments alone then."

Snape squinted at him in suspicion. "I'm not handing over such a valuable and rare potion so you can make a wish to become a Quidditch super champion. This is a serious matter."

Harry grinned at the memory of Ron when he had thought he had drank Liquid Luck in order to excel at Quidditch. "You don't trust me?"

"You can be a bit impulsive."

"Can I wish to have more wishes?" Harry joked.

Severus only blinked at him, a dead serious expression on his face.

"All right," Harry sighed. "Let's hope this works."

Snape handed the potion to Harry. "Now, state clearly how you wish tonight to proceed."

Harry wrapped his fingers around the phial, gazing at the milky liquid, and said, "I, Harry James Potter, desire this evening to be a success. Voldemort will look favorable upon me and my family and will not find any reason to delve into my memories or force me to reveal any information that would harm my family and friends."

Severus nodded in approval and said, "Now, drink."

Harry swallowed it with letting it linger in his mouth, knowing that most potions tasted fairly foul. Immediately he felt it spread throughout his veins and up to his brain, and he felt temporarily disoriented. He gripped the desk so he wouldn't fall at the sensation. "Whoa."

The professor reached out and steadied Harry by his arm. "It will take a few hours before the light headedness settles down. It's good that you took it now, so you will feel more yourself by the time the meeting starts."

Harry held up his hand to his eyes, spreading his fingers apart and then together. "I'm fucking drunk."

"Language, Harry."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry. But you never warned me of this side effect. How am I suppose to get through the afternoon when I'm feeling tipsy?"

"I suggest a nap. The room may feel like it's spinning, but at least you won't make a fool of yourself." Snape led Harry to a chair. "Sit a moment and let the worst of it pass first."

"Thanks," Harry said, as he sat.

Severus gazed at Harry, surprised at how different he seemed this year. More polite, thoughtful, and actually inquiring how Lily faired. In the past, if Severus even hinted about Lily, Harry would coldly turn the conversation away. Perhaps Harry had finally matured and grown some compassion. He knew that giving Lily today's memory for the pensieve would be one she'd cherish. He couldn't wait to see her happiness at Harry's inquiry about her. But he also knew she'd worry the night away about Harry's meeting.

After around two minutes had passed, Harry stood and declared that he was well enough to walk. He was still feeling pretty damn good, but his vision was less wobbly. As he made his way toward the door, he heard Severus say, "Good luck, Harry."

OOOOO

Harry made his way happily up to the tower, whistling and singing. People he passed looked at him strangely and girls giggled. Before he could say the password to Slytherin, Malfoy stepped outside the door.

"There you are, Harry. Let's go," he said, grabbing Harry's arm and heading away from the dorms.

"Go where?" Harry asked, smiling. Nothing could bring him down today. Not even being in Malfoy's presence.

The corner of Draco's lips twitched slightly, amused at Harry's extreme change from angry wizard to happy wizard. Was he bi-polar?

"Quidditch tryouts are next week. You said at your party that you want to try out for the team. Let's go practice, yeah? I checked and the pitch is clear."

Harry's eyebrows lifted, "Oh, yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" he laughed. "I was going to take a nap…"

"A nap? Come on, you lazy sod. You don't want that body to go back to the way it was, do you?" Draco's eyes swept him up and down.

"Lazy sod? Fuck off," Harry chuckled. "There is nothing lazy about me."

"Prove it," Draco challenged.

"Fine, I will," Harry move his face closer and smiled, making Draco's libido quicken.

"Have you been drinking?" Draco inquired, suspicious of Harry's mood extreme.

"What if I have?" Harry laughed.

"Then, we better sober you up before your big meeting tonight, don't you think?"

Harry shrugged and grinned in a way that most saps would consider adorable.

Draco shook his head. "Come on, let's walk to the pitch. The fresh air will do you good."

OOOOO

Draco was getting a bit irritated. They had been practicing for over an hour and Harry was still acting wonky, laughing and not taking anything serious. He had hoped being on brooms again would remind Harry of the kiss they had shared and perhaps it would ignite a repeat performance. This time, however, Draco did not plan on stopping at three minutes.

But Harry was batting the quaffle around, dropping it and thinking it was hilarious to display such buffoonery. He flew around the pitch making jokes and doing rolls through the hoops. Draco couldn't seem to engage him in one place long enough to flirt.

"Watch this," Harry called out for what seemed the hundredth time and zoomed past Draco's head by inches, laughing.

Finally Draco picked up a bludger, took aim and whacked at Harry's broom, putting him in a spin and making him so dizzy that he slipped off his broom. Luckily the distance to the ground was short.

"Ouch!" Harry laughed. "You arse!"

Draco landed next to him, kneeling down at his side and frowning that Harry was still so damn happy, even after getting knocked off his broom. He shook his head. "This is more than liquor, isn't it? What did you take, Harry?"

Harry studied Draco's face. Was he really concerned? He looked quite cute leaning over him like that. Wait? Cute? Harry laughed again. "It was a potion," he answered honestly.

"You're an idiot, you know. Which one was it? I may have to get you to the hospital wing. We can't have you laughing at our Lord."

Harry shook his head. "It'll wear off soon enough. I was nervous about tonight, so I took something to help me feel better," he lied.

"You better hope it wears off soon," Draco warned, concerned.

Harry grinned playfully. "You look so cute when you are worried."

Draco gazed at him, his eyes following along Harry's prone body. Finally Harry was flirting with him. Yet, did it count if he was not himself?

The potion made Harry feel bold and he couldn't believe the words that came out of his own mouth next. "Could you be any more obvious, Draco? Checking me out while I'm laying here, helpless?" he laughed.

"Helpless?" Draco scoffed. "You didn't fall that far." He curled his bottom lip in and moistened it, looking at Harry's chest again and then back to his eyes. "But you may be right about me checking you out."

Harry threw his arms out to the sides, grinning playfully. "Here's your chance. You better take it while I'm feeling so good. Once I'm angry again, I may not be so agreeable." A little voice in the back of Harry's mind was yelling, "What the hell are you doing?" But Harry just didn't care at the moment. The delicious feelings curling inside him were far more interesting.

"Maybe I find angry sexy too," Draco said, hovering closer to Harry's face and feeling Harry's breath on his lips.

And then a hundred sensations seemed to hit Harry at once as Draco pressed his lips and his body down on top of Harry's. Their mouths opened at once and their tongues tangled hungrily, hands slid up and under shirts and legs wrapped around one another. Harry had no more awareness of the Quidditch pitch or the sky or the trees around them. He was floating in a sea of exquisite sensation as they rocked against one another, kissing and grasping, squeezing and tasting. Never had he known such raw need.

When Draco slipped his hand between their bodies and into Harry's pants, wrapping his fingers around Harry's cock, Harry could barely contain himself. He followed suit, moving his own hand down the front of Draco's pants and grasping him as well. Mouths still locked together, they moaned bringing each other off as their bodies rubbed together, getting hot and damp with exertion.

After they had both peaked, Harry removed his hand and flopped back down onto his back, breathing heavily. Draco reluctantly followed suit, laying next to him and wondering what would happen next. He probably shouldn't have taken advantage of Harry when he was on a potion, but the temptation was too great. And, perhaps, this would be the start of something between them. For the first time, Draco felt a little vulnerable, knowing that Harry could very well feel differently once he was sober. He knew he had to remain in control and not make a fool out of himself like Blaise did by being too pushy.

"Wow," Harry grinned, breaking the silence. "That was… really fun." He turned his head to the side, smiling at Draco. "Thanks for that."

Draco turned on his side, facing Harry and shook his head. "Shut up, you idiot." He pressed his lips onto Harry's. Trying to show Harry that his feelings didn't end with the orgasms. He didn't want this to be a one off.

"Mmmm," Harry moaned, deepening the kiss. When their faces parted, Harry's face sobered a bit and his eyes connected with Draco's for a moment, searching. Then he turned his head and looked at the sky. "It's getting dark. We should get back."

OOOOOO

A/N For the reviewer that requested a little Harry/Draco action, that was for you. With the complexity of Harry's situation and emotions, I couldn't have too much, too soon.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. The story is really coming together in my mind now and I'm getting excited to present it to you. Please send and review and let me know your thoughts. Thank you for being a great audience!


	8. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A/N: First of all, thank you to all who are reviewing. It is very encouraging for me. I try to get this chapters out as soon as I can, though life can get very busy as you know. Hope you enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Dinner was a somber affair as Harry contemplated his meeting with Voldemort. He had no idea what to expect. Happily, his giddiness from the side-effect of the potion had worn off, but left him hoping that his luck hadn't worn off as well.

The Slytherins didn't bother him with their usual annoying comments, sensing Harry needed to stay focused. He knew Draco was tying to catch his eye over the meal, but Harry didn't want to get distracted at the moment. He didn't know what had gotten into him earlier to make him snog Malfoy and bring each other off. Not that he didn't enjoy it, but it now made things awkward now that he was sober. But he'd have to deal with that later.

Near the end of the meal, Headmistress Umbridge strode up to Harry at the table and said, "Mr. Potter, follow me, please."

Harry couldn't help scowling at her as he rose from his seat. He truly despised this woman back in his world. He hoped this Umbridge wasn't as psychotic as the one back home. He followed her a few paces behind to her office, noting the glances of others, as if he was being led to his execution.

Harry inwardly vowed that he would not mess up the lives of James, Sirius and Lily in this world. He had to remember that this Voldemort was not the one he had to kill.

When they reached the Headmistress' office, she turned to him and said, "You have special permission to use my floo tonight, Mr. Potter. When you return, please exit my office as quietly and quickly as possible."

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak civilly to her.

"Take some floo powder and go to Marvollo Palace," she instructed. "Good luck."

Harry grabbed a fistful and spoke, "Marvollo Palace," stepping into the dark expanse of the floo. In a flash he found himself walking out into a lavish reception hall of black marble floors. The walls were covered in murals of war scenes and bloody rituals. Silver candelabras floated everywhere, lighting the way. They moved in formation, opening the path that Harry needed to take to proceed to the next room.

Harry continued on, feeling the enchantments placed all around him. The room buzzed with energy. As Harry stepped from the room into a corridor, he saw Regulus walking to meet him from the left.

"Good evening, Harry," Regulus greeted, giving him an embrace.

"Hey," Harry said in return. He could feel the stiffness in the greeting and realized that they were already being watched and observed, though Harry saw no one else around. He felt Regulus squeeze his shoulder in reassurance.

"This way," he said, leading Harry down the corridor.

Harry looked from side to side at all the paintings they had passed and the people and creatures in the paintings looking back at him in curiosity.

They soon reached a set of double doors which opened on their own, allowing the two men to enter. The light was dim, except for the firelight that flickered on the walls, allowing Harry to notice they were in some sort of library. Volumes upon volumes of books lined the walls as far up as Harry could see. Regulus held out his arm, stopping Harry in the middle of the room as the door shut behind them.

"My Lord, Harry is here to see you," Regulus spoke.

It was then that Harry noticed a man standing in front of the fireplace, his back to them. "Thank you , Regulus," the man said. He turned about, observing Harry a moment, his hands clasped behind his back.

Harry took the moment to observe him as well. This Voldemort looked nothing like the deformed 'snakeman' back home. This one looked to be a man in his forties or fifties, with dark hair and piercing eyes. Harry realized that he appeared to be an older version of the Tom Riddle he had met back home in the Chamber of Secrets. Of course, this Voldemort had never died. He had never been brought back to life with a remnant of his soul, turning him into a hideous snake-like freak. Perhaps, this one's soul was still intact. This ought to be interesting, Harry thought.

"Welcome to my home, Harry Potter," Voldemort began.

Harry inclined his head slightly. "Thank you, my Lord," he played along. It was far easier playing the loyal subject to Voldemort when they were so physically dissimilar.

Voldemort stepped forward, waving his hand to some chairs in front of the fire. "Please, sit. It is so refreshing to have someone other than a snake to speak our tongue to. I had thought all my relations were dead."

Harry walked to the comfortable armchair Voldemort had indicated and sat. Regulus stood nearby but did not sit. "I'm not sure I can speak it on demand. It requires a snake to be present."

Voldemort sat across from Harry, looking amused. "You are speaking it now," he replied silkily.

Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He glanced at Regulus.

"He doesn't understand anything we are saying to one another, unless you address him directly," Voldemort added.

Harry shook his head. "I can't tell when I'm speaking it."

"Can't you?" Voldemort replied. "Focus on your jaw. Say something to Regulus, then say something to me. Notice the difference."

Harry turned his head to Regulus. "How are you?" he tested.

Regulus looked at him strangely and replied, "I'm fine, Harry."

Then Harry turned his gaze back to Voldemort and said, "If you can understand me, step closer to my chair." Regulus did not move.

The corners of Voldemort's lips tilted upwards. "See? We have complete privacy."

Harry nodded. "But it's unnecessary. I do trust Regulus."

"As do I. But we cannot control how we speak to one another. We will automatically speak parseltongue when face to face. That is the nature of our gift."

"I see."

"It appears you are of my line, Harry. When I first heard the news of this, I was quite surprised. This ability should not have escaped your father. Yet, he cannot speak it. Are you quite sure he is your actual father?"

"I've always believed so. We look a lot alike."

"Hmmm… perhaps your mother had some lovers on the side. She was a filthy mud blood after all."

Harry felt a stab of anger at the insult. He wanted to spit out a scathing rebuttal, but he had to remember the lives at stake. "Perhaps," Harry replied, his teeth clenched tightly.

Voldemort looked amused. "Did I insult you?" The Dark Lord leaned forward in his chair, looking at Harry in interest. "Don't be upset. It doesn't matter anymore, not when you are of Salazar Slytherin's bloodline. Our line trumps all, Harry, even over pure bloods. Remember that." He leaned back into his chair, observing Harry.

Harry remained silent, trying to get his anger under control. The silence was uncomfortable.

After a few minutes, Voldemort said, "I see something in you, Harry. There is something very similar to myself. It's your magic. I can feel it's power and it's potential."

Harry could only guess that he was sensing the piece of Voldemort's soul that resided inside himself. Of course it would feel similar. But Harry didn't want this Voldemort getting any ideas about recruiting him. "I really don't have any grand ambitions. I just want to live a normal life."

"You're lying to yourself, or perhaps to me. A Slytherin without grand ambitions? That is not possible. What do you fear?"

Harry knew he had to tread carefully. "A loss of freedom," he answered, honestly.

"Freedom? What a naive concept. No one is completely free. The masses need guidance and control or chaos and ruin will result. Surely you can see that?"

"Yes, of course," Harry lied, nodding. He might as well play the part. A little ass kissing to keep things good for James, Sirius, Regulus and Lily before he left this world couldn't hurt. "I appreciate all you have done for me and my family, my Lord."

"As you should," Voldemort replied, mollified. "Yet, in light of the discovery of our relatedness, there may have to be a few changes."

Fuck! Harry felt a ball of anxiety in his gut. Did he screw things up? "What sort of changes, my Lord?" He glanced at Regulus, who was blissfully unaware of what they were saying. By gods, he hoped he hadn't ruined everything for the Potters and the Blacks!

"I've been thinking that someone will have to carry on our family line. It would be a shame to have all our power and abilities die out. I realize that up to this point, you have been under the impression that you would never have to marry if you did not wish to do so. But, I now require that you do marry and marry well. You'll have a pureblood wife and continue our line with children."

"What?" Harry was relieved and flabbergasted at the same time. This was what occupied the Dark Lord's mind?

"You are listening, aren't you?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "But, I'm not interested in women."

Voldemort grinned slightly, glancing at Regulus, his eyes sweeping the man up and down, before turning his attention back to Harry. "It seems that may run in our bloodline as well. But, no matter. You do not have to want her. Produce children and have other lovers on the side. Marriage for love is a muggle concept. Marriage is a contract only. A woman has your children and runs your household while you provide for the family. Who you love is a different matter altogether."

"That doesn't seem a very satisfying home life."

"Are you questioning my laws?"

YES, Harry screamed inside his mind. "No, my Lord, I just rather live with men," Harry amended.

"I understand your feelings well," Voldemort replied. "But you must do your duty to our line. When you are eighteen, you will marry. You need not stay in her bed beyond impregnating her."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, my Lord," he played along. Happily, he would not be here when he was eighteen.

"I will keep this meeting brief, Harry. I know you have your studies to attend to. But, I expect you to come dine with me on Saturday evening. I wish to test out your other abilities and assess your strengths."

Crap! "As you wish, my Lord," Harry bowed his head.

Voldemort turned to Regulus. "Escort Harry back to Hogwarts and then return to me."

Regulus bowed. "Yes, my Lord."

"Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight, my Lord," Harry replied, standing and following Regulus out the door. When they were back in the corridor, Regulus made the quiet signal with his finger over his lips and led Harry back to the floo.

Regulus went with Harry through the floo and immediately threw up a privacy bubble around them in the headmistresses office. Luckily Umbridge was no where to be seen.

"What were you two hissing about?" Regulus started. "What happened?"

"Not much. He wants me to get married and continue the Slytherin bloodline."

"He believes you are related, then? I thought as much. He didn't try to read your mind? Did Severus give you the Foggy Mind potion?"

"No, not that potion, but another. And, no, he didn't try to read my mind." Harry stared at Regulus for a moment and continued, "You're his lover, aren't you?"

"I thought you had figured that out by now, Harry. Welcome to the grown up world."

"How could you stand him?"

Anger crossed over Regulus' features. "You better be grateful that I do! Do you really think we'd have the life we do if I didn't? Think about it, Harry. Your father and my brother did NOT fight for him in the war. If our Lord did not favor me like he does, just where do you think we'd all be right now?"

Harry's eyes dropped to the ground. "That's awful. I'm sorry." Harry shook his head. Regulus had to sleep with Voldemort to keep the family living well. "Things are even worse than I thought."

Regulus chucked Harry under the chin and tried to give him a smile. "Hey there, cub. Don't look so glum. There are worse things, you know. He's not cruel to me, at least, and I am his one and only. He doesn't let anyone else get that close to him."

Harry thought back to his knowledge about the other Harry and the fooling around with Regulus he had done. "He wouldn't be too happy to find out about what we did…"

"Why do you think I was so nervous about him reading your memories?"

Harry nodded. "He wants to meet for dinner on Saturday to test out my abilities."

The reassuring smile on Regulus' face disappeared. "The worry continues, then? Tell Severus to start brewing more potion for you. Harry, if he continues to want to meet with you, we may want to consider having certain memories removed from you."

"No way!"

"Think what is at stake!"

"We'll continue with potions, all right? I don't want my mind messed with."

OOOOOOO

On his way back to the Slytherin tower, Harry contemplated the fact that when faced with this world's Voldemort, he automatically spoke in parseltongue. He wondered why the same hadn't happened in his world. Perhaps the fracturing of his Voldemort's soul had changed him too much, or perhaps that fact that Harry carried a piece of the same soul, that the two souls didn't recognize they were separate beings. It was like Harry was talking to himself whenever he had spoken to his Voldemort. That thought gave him chills. His own soul had to be inside too, hadn't it?

As he stepped into the door of the common room, his thoughts heavy, he was bombarded by his group of friends, all asking him what had happened.

"He believes I'm his relative and he wants me to marry and carry on the family line," Harry announced, simply, not really vested in the plan since he wasn't planning on being around for very long.

"That's it?" Blaise asked.

Harry shrugged. "That's the gist of it, yeah. And he wants me to come to dinner on Saturday to test my abilities."

"Blimey Harry, you have to back?" Gregory asked.

"That's huge, Harry," Theodore stated. "He's interested in you. Maybe he wants you to be his heir, or maybe your offspring."

Harry glanced at Draco, who sat listening quietly, not giving away any of his feelings on the matter.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think he's the type to want to pass on his position anytime soon. I'm sure he'll probably find a way to live forever if he could."

Blaise frowned. "There are rare ways to extend your life greatly, but I don't think living forever will ever be possible."

Harry thought about the Horcruxes back home and how Voldemort could keep using them to come back. That would be a lot of lives, perhaps 600 - 700 years worth. That would be far too many to have that madman around. Hopefully, this world's Voldemort did not know of that magic. He didn't seem psychotic, just very full of himself and his laws. Yet, Harry had the feeling that he probably seen the best side of the Dark Lord tonight, probably due to the luck potion he had consumed. If he was always so cordial, then this world wouldn't be so frightened of him.

"That's about it, so I'm heading off to bed," Harry announced.

"Seriously, Harry?" Theodore asked. "We've been waiting around all evening to hear what happened and all we get is a few statements?"

Harry sighed impatiently. "Nothing much happened. I walked into the room. We sat down together and talked in parseltongue. Oh, I did find out that when I'm speaking to him, I automatically speak in parseltongue. Then he insinuated that I might be a bastard of his line, but that it didn't matter because Salazar Slytherin blood is the most prized blood of all, even above pure bloods." Harry looked around at their faces, inwardly gloating that he got one in on those pure blood prats. "Then, he said I'd have to marry at eighteen and continue the line because I guess he doesn't want to do it himself. Last of all he asked me to return on Saturday for dinner. That's it."

Harry gazed at each one of them in turn, but they were silently contemplating what he had just said. "Any more questions?"

"Now you are better than us?" Crabbe scoffed.

"Shut up. That's not what he said," Draco snapped.

"You wanted to know what he said. Now you know. Happy? Goodnight." Harry turned and left the common room for his bedroom, thankful that he didn't have to share with anyone.

OOOOOO

Just after midnight soft knocking sounded on Harry's door, waking him up with it's persistence.

Harry wrapped a robe around himself and went to the door, opening it he saw Draco standing close, leaning against the frame. "Can I come in?" he said quietly.

"Draco…"

"Not for that." Draco clarified. "It's just that I'm worried for you."

Harry sighed, opening the door more and letting the blonde in, smelling the fresh scent of soap that someone carried when they had just showered. Harry was wary of leading him towards the bed and led him to the chairs by the fire instead.

As they both sat, Harry asked, "What's on your mind?"

"I don't know what our Lord's intentions are regarding you. Asking you to come back in order to test your abilities… is troubling."

"Why?"

"Because, the way I see it, there are two possible reasons for it, one good and one bad. The good one is that he is considering you for his heir and plans to give you an important position if you are worthy."

"And what's the bad one?"

"He's afraid you may be a threat to him and will have you eliminated if your powers prove too great."

Harry nodded. "I have thought that as well."

"Harry, do you think…," Draco stumbled with words, "what I mean is, just how powerful do you think your blood is? Do you think you could do the things he does?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really know all he can do, so how can I answer that?"

Draco nodded. "True enough, but maybe it would be wise to hold back a bit on Saturday, just in case. If he loses interest in your abilities, then the most you'd have to do is reproduce for him."

Harry shook his head, smiling.

"What?" Draco asked, wondering.

"I'm not use to you being so concerned for me."

"We've been friends a long time."

But Harry was thinking of the other Malfoy. The one that hated him. "Yeah, suppose so," Harry replied. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Draco nodded, rising from his chair. "Goodnight, then," he said, turning to leave.

Harry stood too and said, "Hey, Draco, wait. About earlier today…"

Draco turned at the door to face Harry again. "Yeah?"

"It's just that… I was on that potion. And I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me."

"And what idea would that be?"

Harry shifted on his feet, hating to bring it up at all, but it was better to have it out now. He didn't want to string anyone along when he was leaving soon. "You know… that I'm interested in being more than friends."

Draco stepped toward him. "I wasn't going to bring the matter up tonight, but since you decided to, then I've got this to say." He pushed Harry back against his tall bedpost, pinning him against it.

Harry was so surprised that he didn't know how to respond until Draco's lips descended on his. At first he tried to push him away, but the blond was such a good kisser and it felt so good being surrounded by the heat of his body and his arms wrapped around him, that Harry melted into the embrace, snogging him back deeply.

The kiss seemed to go on forever until Draco moved Harry and shoved him back onto the bed. Draco stood at the edge of the bed, observing the obvious tent in Harry's pajama bottoms and the flush look of desire on Harry's face.

He grinned knowingly and said, "Yes, Harry, it's apparent that you only want to be friends." Then he turned and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, hoarsely. Malfoy had definitely won this round. Harry was so turned on, he was willing to play the slut tonight and damn the consequences.

"I'm leaving you to contemplate what a bad liar you are," Draco smirked, slipping out the door.

"Fuck!" Harry swore, his hand slipping down into his bottoms. If he didn't get out of this place fast, he was going to lose his virginity to Malfoy of all people!

OOOOO

Harry lingered after potions class the next day, hoping to speak alone with Severus Snape. Snape immediately caught on and shut the door behind the last student, casting a privacy charm.

"Harry," he began, "tell me of your meeting. Did our potion work?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, it worked fine. Maybe too well."

"How so?"

"I didn't expect him to be so… cordial. We sat and talked. He didn't use any magic against me."

Snape released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "That is well, then. What did he speak of?"

"That I'm of his line and he wants me to continue it. Oh, and he wants me to return on Saturday night to test my abilities. I'll need another potion, please."

Snape sat down in his chair, looking frustrated. "That potion I gave you is very rare and hard to reproduce. I don't have another sitting around."

"Can you make more? I can help you if you wish."

"Not by Saturday. It takes many months to ripen the proper ingredients, if you can find them at all. And it takes a very careful eye and brewing skill."

"What should I do?"

"I may know someone with a Foggy Memory potion already made. I don't like placing my trust in other people's potions, but we don't have the three days required to brew our own."

"We should consider brewing some for future meetings. Just in case this is not to be the last."

Severus stared at Harry, thinking. "Why do I have the feeling that you are hiding more from the Dark Lord than just your dislike of him?"

Harry looked away from Snape's penetrating glare. "Everyone has secrets."

The room grew uncomfortably silent and Harry could feel Snape's hesitation. That man wanted to know, but at the same time, he didn't. "Would you consider these secrets dangerous?" he finally asked.

Harry turned his gaze back to the professor. "Yes."

Severus hesitated a moment, staring into Harry's eyes, and then nodded. "Very well, I shall help you in any way I can."

"Thank you."

Harry stood to leave the room. Turning at the door, he said, "You don't want know more?"

"The less I know, the better for all."

Harry nodded. "Thank you for giving me your rare potion. Were you saving for something else?"

Snape did not answer Harry and Harry had the feeling that the conversation was over for now.

OOOOO

As Harry left the potion's classroom, the dungeon corridor had thinned a bit. The students walking it's length would be the ones considered 'low-borns' in this world. Harry had the feeling that one or more of the other houses were situated down here in the dungeons as Slytherin House had been in his world. Except, the dungeons in this world looked more neglected. No paintings on the walls. Just hard, leaking, stone blocks with torches to light the way.

Curiosity got the best of Harry, and instead of taking the stairs out of the dungeons, he found himself following behind a group of Ravenclaws going deeper down the dank corridor. Harry had to put his arm over his nose at the horrid smells coming from the toilets that he passed. He pinched his nose and stuck his head in the door of the boy's restroom, noticing the smashed toilets with dripping plumbing which were no longer in use. Instead the floor had buckets of feces and urine overflowing.

Harry quickly backed out, leaning against the corridor wall, trying to gasp for air. That was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen! Why would this be allowed? A rat squealed by his feet, startling him.

When he looked up, Ron Weasley was passing by, scowling at him.

"Ron?" Harry couldn't help saying.

Ron turned and glared at him. "What do you want?"

"What are you doing down here? Where are you going?"

"To my room, you idiot."

"Gryffindor is down here? I thought it might be Ravenclaw."

Ron grimaced, shaking his head as if Harry was a complete moron. He turned and continued walking further down the corridor.

Harry caught up to him. "Wait a minute. Sorry. I'm not trying to be an arse. I really want to know."

Ron turned and shoved Harry, causing him to hit the wall. "Get away from me. I've had enough of your shit. I'm not falling in one of your traps again. Where are your friends hiding this time? Eh? You think I'm stupid?"

Harry looked at Ron incredulously. It seemed the old Harry had also been quite the bully. No wonder Ron was looking at him with such hatred. Harry shook his head, "No, I don't think you're stupid at all."

"Leave me the fuck alone," Ron shouted, hurrying away.

Harry stared after him, stunned. He truly hated the other Harry now. How could anyone further abuse the students that were already so outcast? Look at the conditions they lived in. Harry, sitting in his own tower room, enjoying such comfort and opulence, while others were living with rats, feces, urine, and cold dampness.

Groups of other unfortunates passed Harry, hurrying by him as if they were afraid he strike them. And suddenly, a girl was standing next to him, a pleading look on her smudged face.

"Ginny?" Harry whispered.

"Please don't tell on my brother. Please."

"What do you mean?"

"He shouldn't have pushed you like that. Or yelled at you. Please don't tell. I'll… I'll do anything for you if you don't tell." She looked down at her feet in shame.

Harry had to stop his hand from lifting and stroking the tears on her cheeks. "I won't say anything," he promised. "And you don't have to do anything for me, except maybe talk to me a minute."

Her eyes raised to his, confused. "Talk?"

"Can you tell me about the other houses. Are you all down here?"

"Yes," she nodded, wondering why he didn't already know this.

Harry knew he should just shut up and forget about the troubles of this world. He knew finding out more would only make him care more. But, it wasn't in him to turn his back on the suffering of others, especially when the ones suffering resembled everyone he loved back home.

"Is there enough room for you all?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"Do you have your own bedrooms at least?"

Ginny shook her head, looking at Harry as if he had gone mad. "Bedrooms? We have blankets on the floor."

"What?!" Harry exclaimed. His fist clenched, imagining himself slugging Umbridge on her fat mouth.

Ginny backed up a step, fearful of Harry's angry expression.

Harry calmed down immediately when he saw her expression. "No, wait, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Umbridge for allowing this. No one should be treated this way, especially children."

"GINNY!" a loud voice yelled down the corridor. Harry turned his head to see Ron stalking back toward them, angrily. "Stay away from my sister or I'll kill you!" Ron yelled, raising his fist as he approached.

Ginny launched herself on her brother, pushing him back. "Ron, no, they'll punish you. We were just talking."

"Get out of here, Ginny," Ron struggled to get her off.

"No, you can't do this," she cried.

Harry held up his hands, backing away. "Look, I just wanted to talk. I'll go now, all right?"

"You better," Ron yelled, struggling to get past his sister. "I better not see you down here again."

Harry hurried out of the dungeons, his heart beating rapidly. What the fuck was going on in this castle? The gap between rich and poor, high born and low born, was so wide. There was no middle ground. There was no concept of fairness or equality. The living conditions were absolutely terrible for the other houses, so bad that the thought of it, and the smell of it made Harry want to vomit.

Harry leaned against the wall when he made it upstairs, breathing deeply of the fresher air. He heard Delores Umbridge cackling in the next room and Harry felt his body stiffening in anger. That insane bitch! How could she laugh in the midst of all the suffering she was in charge of.

Harry felt his hand move to his wand as he walked purposely toward the room he heard his nemesis in. He stopped in the doorway, glaring at her in hatred. He hated everything about her. The stupid pink bow and frilly dress, her high pitched sing song voice, which gave the air of a gentle femininity that Harry knew was all a ruse. There was nothing gentle about Delores Umbridge. Under all that pink and lace, was an ugly, acidic, vindictive, and hateful soul.

She was standing there with a group of Slytherin girls, laughing as if they were amusing her greatly with their conversation, until she noticed Harry standing there with his wand out, glaring at her with anger.

Her face fell to one of concern. "Harry? Is there something wrong?"

"Everything is wrong," Harry hissed, teeth clenched. He was so fucking angry at the moment, he wondered if he could stop himself. And actually, he had no desire to stop himself.

The Slytherin girls backed away from Umbridge as she removed her own wand, still trying to keep the calm. "Now, now, Harry. I don't know what has happened, but let's not be hasty. Let us discuss things civilly. What has upset you so?"

"You, you have upset me," Harry growled. "What kind of place do you run here, Umbridge? It's disgraceful!"

Umbridge stiffened her back. "Watch your tone with me, young man. I am losing my patience with you."

"I lost my patience with YOU a long time ago, you bitch," Harry spat.

Delores' eyes widened as she raised her wand, but Harry was quicker to the draw.

"Expelliarmus!" he cast, making the headmistresses wand fly out of her hand and clack loudly against the wall.

The students in the room had now completely backed away, looking at Harry as if he were crazy.

But Harry had already passed the threshold of caring. His anger was like a red hot fuel pump, filling him with power and overriding his reason. He stepped closer to the shocked woman, pointing his wand at her. "Crucio," he cursed.

"Noooooo," she cried between her screams of agony, as she fell to the ground.

"Experlliarmus!" another voice yelled from behind him, and Harry felt like a faucet that had just been turned off when his wand left his hand. He spun around and saw Snape behind him, pointing his wand and looking at Harry with immense confusion. "Are you mad?"

Harry was breathing hard as he looked from Snape, back to Umbridge struggling to get up from the ground, then back to Snape. Like a balloon deflating, he felt his power reside along with the red hot anger he had felt moments before. What on Earth caused him to lose control like that?

"Incarcerous," another voice called out. Harry felt invisible ropes wrap around his body, holding his arms and legs stiff. He fell over onto the ground.

"Take him to the infirmary," Severus said, quickly, before Umbridge could compose herself enough to scream out a harsher order. "He clearly is not in his right mind at the moment." Whatever had happened to Harry, Severus knew that the best thing would be to blame it on a potion accident, or perhaps a hex. He followed behind Harry's levitated body, glancing back at Umbridge as other professors were circling to help her to her feet. He hoped he could make up something believable.

"What have you done?" he mumbled next to Harry's ear.

Harry closed his eyes, looking pained. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

OOOOO

A/N Hope you enjoyed this chapter. There will be more Harry and Draco coming up as well as the fallout from Harry's little display above.

Please send me a review. I love hearing from you. Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N Sorry for the wait, dear readers. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

Trigger

Harry awoke to the sounds of arguing in the room. His head hurt badly and the light was much too bright for his liking. He realized then that he was still incarcerated and laying on a bed in the infirmary. He squinted at the commotion, recognizing James and Sirius who were in the midst of arguing with Delores Umbridge.

"You heard what Professor Snape said," Sirius ranted. "Harry has been experimenting with making new and unusual potions. It's his passion! He even has our house elf looking for special ingredients for him."

"But he is experimenting on himself!" she retorted. "I cannot have such dangerous and reckless practices in this school. I will not tolerate experimenting which results in maniac behaviors! He tortured me, Mr. Black. I see no other choice but to expel him from Hogwarts and file criminal charges against him."

"Please, Headmistress, please reconsider," pleaded James. "Harry is young and he has been foolish. Haven't we all done foolish things in our youth? You are destroying his future over one foolish mistake."

"You can have him forbidden from brewing potions outside of class time," Sirius added. "He'll only brew the approved potions in his lessons. And of course he must be punished for this incident, only, please, do not expel him."

She stiffened her back. "My decision stands. After the mind healers are done examining him, he'll be brought to the ministry where I'll be filing formal charges against him. Good day." She spun around on her heel and stomped out of the room, unwilling to hear anymore pleading in Harry's defense.

"I'm really sorry," Harry spoke.

James and Sirius turned to Harry, not realizing that he had been awake. They walked to his bed, their faces drawn and sad.

"Why, son?" James questioned. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"I can't stand her," he replied, honestly. "I can't ignore how she treats the students and the things they have to endure."

"She has mistreated you?" Sirius asked.

Harry sighed. Yes, many times. But that was the Umbridge in his world. This Umbridge was mistreating anyone who was not a Slytherin. "No, of course not. Slytherins are her little pets," he replied sarcastically. "We get lavish accommodations in the towers, the best food, the best seating in the classrooms and a free pass to bully all the low-borns we wish. It's the other houses I'm talking about. Have you ever seen how they live in the dungeons? Have you seen the filth, the cold, the starvation, and the torment? Perhaps you had your glory days of bullying the low-borns when you were students here? Are they fond memories for you?"

James and Sirius glanced at one another.

"Things were different back then, before the war," James replied. "Slytherins were looked down upon by the other houses. When our Lord appointed Headmistress Umbridge to her position after the war, he encouraged her to elevate Slytherin house to the highest of honor to make up for the decades of disdain. Perhaps she has taken it too far."

"Perhaps?" Harry snarled. "I encourage you to take a trip down to the dungeons and see for yourself."

"Harry," Sirius said, "your anger is not going to change anything. It has only managed to get you thrown out of school and perhaps worse." He ran a weary hand through his black hair. "Perhaps Regulus can help…"

James nodded. "He's our best hope."

Harry frowned. "Damn it. I don't like Regulus getting even more indebted to Voldemort. Fuck! I'm sorry, I wish I hadn't lost my temper like that. I hate that I'm such a burden to all of you."

"Burden?" Sirius replied. "Harry, we are family."

OOOOO

James and Sirius were ordered to leave the room while the mind healers examined Harry. It was a very unpleasant experience as they stuck wands in his ears, up his nose, and shined strange lights into his eyes. The glamour had fallen off his scar and his glasses and they tried questioning Harry about them. But Harry didn't say a word.

Professor Snape was called into the room during the exam and they questioned him extensively regarding the potion Harry had been brewing. Fortunately Snape answered very astutely and Harry knew he must have been preparing this excuse since the incident happened. He was very grateful that Snape seemed to be on his side in this world.

Just like the healer at the House of Healing, these ones found something very unusual about Harry, but Harry was staying quiet this time. All he could think about was Tally and how he wanted her to show up immediately.

As they were finishing up their examination, Regulus walked in. "That will be enough," he ordered, authoritatively. "By order of the Dark Lord, you will cease this examination immediately and hand over your results."

The healers looked at him, confused. "But… we have to give our findings to the ministry."

"Do not make ask twice," Regulus stated, unequivocally.

It was then Harry realized how much clout Regulus carried. Not only was he Voldemort's lover, he was also his right hand man. This made him the second most powerful wizard in this world.

They scurried to hand over their parchments.

When they had handed everything over, he said, "Now, release his bonds and leave. You are not to say a word of anything you have discovered in your examination or I will have your heads. Is that clear?"

They did as he bid and left the room in a hurry. Regulus waved his wand, shutting the door behind them and watched as Harry sat up, rubbing his arms where the magical bindings had held him.

Harry met his eyes. "Did the Dark Lord really order them to stop examining me?"

Regulus smirked, turning toward the fireplace and tossing the parchments into the fire. "No."

"Does he know I've been expelled?"

Regulus returned to Harry's bed and sat down next to him. "He won't allow it. He wants you to finish school."

"Does Umbridge know?"

"She's reading his letter now," Regulus replied, his eyes studying Harry's face. "What is that curse you used?"

"Crucio?"

"What is it? And how did you learn such a thing?"

Harry found it surprising that they did not know Crucio in this world.

"It's causes extreme pain. I… found it mentioned once in an old book I was reading."

"So you decided to try it out on the Headmistress?"

Harry stood, uncomfortable with the conversation, and walked across the room to the fire. He held his hands over the flames, warming them. "She triggers me."

"I don't know what's got into you lately. You've been changing and I'm not sure it's for the better. You are angry, impulsive, and secretive. You use to tell me everything, and now I can hardly get two words out of you."

"I don't like a lot of things I see, and I can't stand by and do nothing about it."

"Sirius told me you are unhappy with how the other houses are treated. You must realize, Harry, that these things have been sanctioned by our Lord. To go against the laws he has created is to go against him. We can't afford to have a rebel in our family, Harry, you know this."

Harry wanted to laugh. In his world Sirius and Regulus had both been rebels. And again, he had to remind himself that this was not his world. He had no right to try to change it.

Harry sighed, resigned. "Yeah, you are right. I'm sorry."

Regulus got up and walked to where Harry was standing, speaking in a low voice. "I must warn you, Harry. The torture of the Headmistress has made the Dark Lord even more interested in you. Do not expect Saturday evening to be as uneventful as your first meeting."

Harry nodded. "I understand."

"Do you? Take your potion and do whatever he asks of you - no matter how distasteful."

OOOOO

Harry was immediately summoned to Umbridge's office when he was released from the infirmary and Regulus had left. James, Sirius and Professor Snape were already there, waiting.

The Headmistress had her chin lifted in defiance as she glared at Harry. He went to an empty chair next to James and sat.

"Harry, is there something you wish to say?" James prompted.

No, Harry didn't want to say a thing to that obnoxious witch, but he knew what was expected of him and he knew how much it meant to James, Sirius and Snape that he stay in school.

"I'm sorry for I did. I barely remember any of it, now that the potion has worn off," he lied. He remembered everything. And he wouldn't change a thing about it.

Umbridge pressed her lips in a very fine line, frowning. "I'm very disappointed with you, Harry. That you should experiment with untried potions on yourself… is the very definition of idiocy. You are fortunate you did not poison yourself." She swung her gaze to Professor Snape. "And you! How could you allow a Slytherin to consume unknown potions when you have many low-borns right down the hall to choose from?"

Harry jumped to his feet, his fists clenched. "Cunt!" he yelled. She was lucky that his wand had been taken from him because he was itching to torture her again. How could she sit there and say those things?

James grabbed Harry's wrist and tugged. "Harry! Sit down and control yourself!"

A smug expression came over the Headmistresses face. "Is he under the influence of a potion now? Hmmmm… I don't think so. This room is full of liars."

Harry wouldn't sit again, still glaring at her, so James stood next to him, holding his arm. "I'm sorry, Headmistress," James began, "Harry can be quite passionate at times. Harry, please apologize."

Harry yanked his arm from James' grasp. "I'm not sorry. Fuck her and fuck this school." He pointed his finger in her face. "You are evil and looking at you makes me want yak all over those tacky cat saucers you have hanging on your walls."

"Harry," Sirius said, standing too, "stop this at once."

Severus sat there coolly watching the interaction.

Harry took a deep breath, willing himself to back down for the sake of the men in the room. He clenched his fists again and turned, stalking to the door. He had to get out of here before he did any more damage.

"I did not dismiss you!" Umbridge yelled.

"Fuck off," Harry snapped and left, slamming the door.

Her face was red with rage, as James and Sirius turned to her apologetically. "This was awful," Sirius started, "and we are very sorry."

"You are right, Headmistress. It was not just the potion. Harry has not been himself since hitting his head practicing Quidditch this summer. You saw the scar that the mind healers revealed. He kept it glamoured."

"Perhaps he needs professional help if that is the case," Umbridge replied. "Hogwarts does not have mind healers of that caliber on staff. Unfortunately, our Lord wants Harry in school. This is the first time he's communicated with me about any one student in particular. Why would he have such an interest in Harry?"

"Harry is a parselmouth. Our Lord believes he may be of Salazar Slytherin's line," James replied, his eyes shifting away as if he couldn't believe it himself.

She immediately sat forward in her chair. "What? They are related?"

"Possibly," James nodded.

"And so you are too?" Delores asked, very interested.

James shifted on his feet. He didn't want to make it seem as if Lily had slept around on him. He could feel Severus' eyes boring into him, but he didn't dare look at the wizard who now played husband to his ex-wife. "That would be the natural conclusion," he chose to say.

Severus turned his attention to Umbridge, seeing her struggle with this news. By all rights, Harry should be punished severely for what he had done to her. But he could see the dilemma she faced. If she believed Harry to be related to the Dark Lord, she may not have the power to discipline him as she saw fit. And if Harry is not punished for his misdeeds, it would reflect badly on her authority. Severus could see it coming already. He would get the punishment, if Harry could not.

And indeed she turned to her potion's master, her face accusatory.

"I blame you, Severus, for spoiling the boy. You have given him access to your ingredient stores, even the forbidden ones. You have let him work unsupervised in your classroom after hours, experimenting on himself. How could you be so careless? I'm afraid I am going to have to terminate you, starting immediately."

Severus didn't show any sign of surprise. He expected this. James and Sirius wouldn't look at him. Instead they stared at Umbridge with hurt expressions. He knew they didn't want this to happen to him, but he also knew they must be relieved that Harry wasn't getting blamed.

He stood. "Very well," he replied, and strode quickly out of the room. When he was alone in the corridor, his face finally softened into a resigned frown. How could let Lily know what had happened this day? She was going to be heartbroken when she found out her only access to Harry was now impossible.

OOOOO

Harry left Umbridge's office and stormed up to the owlry. He had enough of this mad house and this backwards world. He grabbed a message parchment and penned a note to Tally, telling her to come to him immediately. Tying it to a school owl, he gave the order to deliver it to his house elf, Tally, though he wasn't quite sure where she was at the moment. Hopefully, the owl could find her. He needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

After he watched the owl take off, he paced around a bit, the other owls watched him with round eyes. He stopped in front of a perch of them and waved his hands around while he spoke. "I have to get home, you see," he said to them. "I have to. This place is driving me mad."

He paced around some more then stopped in front of his owl audience again. "For one, if I stay any longer, I'm going to kill the Headmistress. I've got this fucking dark soul inside of me and it makes me want to do dark things when I'm angry. And this world is making me very angry. Secondly, everyone is waiting for me at home and they are probably getting worried by now. And third, I don't want to lose my virginity to Draco Malfoy, but every time I see him my body betrays me. Yes, that's right. Me, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, wants to shag the son of a Deatheater!"

The owls looked at him, seemingly listening.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I suppose there are no Deatheaters in this world, but… still! You know what I mean, right?"

The owls stared back and then a few of them blinked.

"I've got to get out of here before I get too involved in this world. Why, oh why, do I have to attract so much attention, even in a parallel universe? And don't forget, I also have Volde-fucking-mort interested in me here, too. Why can't I be like the most boring wallpaper that no one even notices?"

He turned and headed to the exit, pausing to look back into the room. "Thanks for being such great listeners."

He really missed Hedwig. He hoped she was safe.

OOOOOO

Harry made his way back to the Slytherin tower, hoping to get some alone time in his room. No such luck. As soon as he stepped into the common room he was bombarded by questions.

"Did you really attack the headmistress?"

"Why did you do it, Harry?"

"Do you have a problem with potions? Are you an addict?"

"Are you expelled?"

Harry glanced from face to face, tongue tied, before Blaise snapped loudly, "Leave him the fuck alone." Harry's group of friends surrounded him, glaring at everyone else and making them back down. Theodore put a hand on Harry's shoulder and guided him to the stairs, the others following.

As they stepped inside Harry's room and shut the door, Harry frowned. He knew they were all curious, but he really didn't feel like spreading the news at the moment. They solemnly took seats around Harry's room, serious expressions on their faces. Harry noticed Draco sitting on the edge of his bed and didn't dare take the only spot left open next to him.

He stood in the middle of the room and threw up his arms. "What?" he exclaimed, exasperated. "You heard the rumors. They are all true."

"You're expelled?" Goyle asked.

"I was. But not anymore. The Dark Lord wants me to stay in school."

Theodore let out a sigh of relief. "That's good, at least."

"And the bit about the potions? Is it true?" Crabbe asked.

Harry glanced at Draco. Draco met his eyes. Harry knew Draco already believed he had a problem with potions because of the other day. He really couldn't say he didn't.

"Yes. I like to get high. So fucking what!" Harry snapped. What did it matter what they thought of him anyway. He wasn't planning on being here much longer.

"So what?" Blaise replied, incredulously. "You tortured the headmistress. That's not a 'so what' thing, Harry."

"She deserved it," Harry replied, starting to enjoy the shock on their faces. He had to suppress his grin as he walked over to his dresser, taking a crystal decanter off the top. He turned, pulling the top off and took a swig.

"What the fuck, Harry!" Blaise snapped. "What kind of potion is that?"

Harry smirked, enjoying their shock. "Some potion called water. Want to try some?"

Harry held out the bottle while everyone else laughed. Blaise grabbed it and sniffed, making sure it was indeed water.

"Wanker," Blaise grumbled.

Theodore sobered. "Joking aside, we're worried about you, Harry. You may be brilliant at potions, but, blimey, do you have to test them on yourself? You could kill yourself someday."

"Or you could kill someone else," Goyle reminded.

Harry looked about at all their faces, surprised that they seemed genuinely concerned. He didn't think Slytherins had it in the to care about others to that degree. He had always believed they were only interested in self preservation.

"Look," Harry began, with a bit of regret in his voice, "I'm sorry if I worried you. I'm all right. And, I'll be more careful in the future. I'm just really tired right now and I need some rest."

Theodore stood and clap Harry on the back. "We're here for you, mate. Let us know if you need anything, yeah?"

"Sure," Harry replied, relieved that they were all finally leaving his room. As the last of them left, Harry turned about and saw that Draco was still sitting on his bed.

Harry tried not to let his mind go 'there', but 'there' it definitely went. His pulse sped up at the sight of the sexy blond on his bed. "Is there something else you want?" Harry asked, immediately regretting the suggestion in the words.

Draco lifted his eyebrows, amused. "Yes, as a matter of fact. There are many things I want, complete honesty not being the least among them."

Harry moved to the armchair a safe distance away and flopped down in it. "And here I thought you just wanted a shag."

"Just? There is no 'just' with a Malfoy, Harry. I'm far too complex for such a simple desire."

"I see no purpose of further dialog, beyond inflating your ego, when I've already told you what has happened."

Draco stood, sauntering over to where Harry sat. He bent down, his hands grasping the arms of the chair as he met Harry's face level. "Perhaps," he began, "what my inflated ego really wants, is to know that the bloke I'm interested in isn't a mad man or an addict. Perhaps, I need to know that he's not going to recklessly endanger himself, or me for that matter. I need to know that all these delicious changes I have noticed since summer holiday are not due to defects of his mind. So, tell me, Harry, am I wasting my time?"

Harry's gaze moved from his eyes to his lips, his heart pounding. He wanted to desperately close the distance between them.

"I'm not mad," Harry stated.

"No?"

"No."

Draco move his face a little closer, tilting it sideways, his eyes sweeping down to Harry's mouth. "And the potions?"

"I've been banned from unsanctioned ingredients," Harry rasped.

"Good," Draco whispered against his lips before beginning a deliciously long kiss.

Harry groaned as Draco's tongue moved into his mouth and he couldn't help pulling him down onto his lap. Draco straddled Harry's lap, snogging him deeply as the heat between their bodies grew increasingly urgent. Their erections strained beneath their clothes as they moved against one another while they made out.

Harry couldn't help slipping his hands under Draco's shirt, and moving them over his bare back. His skin was hot and smooth and Harry wanted to taste it. His mouth traveled down Draco's jaw and onto his neck, sucking, kissing and licking a hot smooth path. Draco groaned at the sensation and shivered slightly when Harry pulled off his shirt and threw it to the ground.

"Harry?" a voice sounded from the side.

The two boys drew apart and Draco scrambled off Harry's lap, turning and gathering up his shirt from the ground.

Harry turned to the fire, seeing James' face in the ashes. He let out a heavy sigh, grabbing a throw pillow and placing it on his lap over his erection. Talk about poor timing.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, I didn't know…" James said.

"Pardon me, Mr. Potter," Draco replied. "I'll leave you two to talk." His eyes connected with Harry's for a moment before he turned and left.

Embarrassed, Harry, cleared his throat. "Sorry," he mumbled.

James shook his head. "I'm sorry too, Harry. I didn't think you'd have company. I was afraid of what you might do after you left Umbridge's office."

"Yeah, about that," Harry sighed, "I'm sorry. I know I left you having to clean up after my angry fit. That wasn't right. I truly am sorry for putting you and Sirius in that position."

"Don't worry about it. You're not expelled. This business with the Dark Lord… it seems to have saved you in this matter. As long as she believes you're his relative, she can't expel you. But, Harry, I must ask that you refrain from attacking her, or anyone else, for that matter. People can only take so much before they'll label you as completely insane and a danger to the public. You do realize what happens to people like that?"

Harry nodded. "I understand. And I promise to do my best to control my anger. I'm really sorry for all the trouble."

"I want you to come home this weekend. We are going to try a mind specialist we know. He's very good, reportedly."

"I'm not crazy."

"I know, son. But, perhaps, we need to further look into that knock on the head you took before school started, just to make sure you are going to be fine."

Honestly, the thought of getting away from Umbridge and all the stares of the other students for the weekend sounded great. But…

"I still have a dinner with the Dark Lord on Saturday."

James nodded. "Yes, you still will attend that. There's no way to get out of it."

OOOOOO

Harry hated spending his Saturday at the hospital, but if it would reassure James and Sirius that he was not crazy, than he'd endure it. Try as he may, he could not get James and Sirius to leave the room during the exam. His only defense was to keep a constant stream of chatter about inconsequential things so that the mind healers would not have any space to reveal their findings out loud.

Harry's strategy did not work for long, however, when a mind healer exclaimed loudly, "This scar is old."

"Only a few weeks," James replied.

"No, no, it is almost as old as the boy. I would say he received this at a very young age."

"That's impossible," James said. "I would know if my own son was injured like that."

"Mr. Potter, I'm a professional. I know what I am seeing."

James stood. "Not this time, you don't!"

"Stop!" Harry snapped. He was weary. Weary of covering up everything with lie upon lie. This wasn't who he was. "Just stop." He sighed, glancing at the healer. "You're right. I got this when I was young."

"Harry?!" James exclaimed, confused. "Why do you say that? I would know…"

"No," Harry interrupted, "you wouldn't know. You weren't there."

"Babies don't do glamour spells," Sirius stated. "Did Tally keep it glamoured all these years?"

A part of Harry wanted to tell them everything, get it all off his chest. He was tired of lying. His only ally in this world, was off on her quest to find a Kortle seed and he had no one else to turn to. He really, really, wanted to tell James and Sirius. But, then he also would have to explain what happened to their Harry. He wasn't ready to face that yet. These men needed a purpose, and Harry was their purpose.

Harry frowned, resigned. "Yes," he lied, his voice dull.

OOOOO

Back at Grimmauld Place, the three of them arrived to find that Harry had a visitor waiting in the parlor. When he stepped into the room, he looked about trying to find his visitor, but saw nothing until the door slammed behind him and he whirled around.

Leaning against the door with a sexy grin was Adrian Pucey, eying Harry up and down. "Hello, sexy. I heard you were home for the weekend. And I thought, 'Adrian, this is the perfect opportunity to get some alone time with that hot bloke'. And so, here I am." He smiled, pushing off the door and sauntering slowly to Harry.

Harry held up his hands. "Wait. Maybe I'm not interested in you like that."

Adrian grabbed one of Harry's outstretched hands and laced his fingers through Harry's. Stepping even closer. "We both know that's a lie."

"No, it's not a lie. I like someone else."

"That doesn't matter. We can just make each other feel good for the next few hours. No one else has to know. I can't stop thinking about you, Harry. I have to know what it's like to be with you."

Harry backed up, but Adrian just kept stepping closer. He put his lips on the side of Harry's neck, nuzzling him and whispering, "Let me taste you, Harry."

Harry slipped away from Adrian, going to the other side of the room. "Stop this, all right? I told you already, I'm not interested. You might not give two figs about your wife, but I'm not like that. There's someone else I'm interested in and I don't want to have anyone but him." And after lying for the last two weeks to almost everyone he met, he finally felt like he just said something that was true.

And it was crazy and absurd.

It was absolutely stupid. It had no future at all, not with Harry's circumstance. But, Harry knew that, in this reality, he wanted Malfoy.

Adrian slumped against the back of the sofa and rolled his eyes. "That's so boring, Harry, and predictable for you. Why do you feel the need to settle for one, when you can have many? Variety is the spice of life. And you only live once."

"If you are done throwing clichés at me, I have a dinner with Our Lord to attend."

"Really? How on Earth did you manage to snag an invitation with the Dark Lord?"

"He enjoys having someone else to speak parseltongue with," Harry said, not wanting to explain everything to Adrian. "I need to get ready."

Adrian's eyes swept Harry's body again. "I can help you with that. I'm quite the authority on men's fashion."

"Except you're too interested in getting me undressed than getting me dressed."

"I can behave when I need to, Harry. And this occasion is important enough for me to do so. I'm offering my sincere help. Would you like it or not?"

Harry shrugged and then nodded. "Sure, I suppose I could use some advice."

True to his word, Adrian was all business as he tore through Harry's closet, mixing and matching outfits and shoes. It took a good thirty minutes for him to finally be satisfied with an outfit and accessories for Harry.

Harry looked at himself in the full length mirror, satisfied. "Thanks. You really are good at this."

"Among other things," Adrian smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll just have to take your word on that," Harry replied.

OOOOOOOO

After tips of conduct from James and Sirius, Harry finally took the floo to Riddle Palace. Regulus was already waiting for him on the other side, and gave Harry an appreciative glance. "You look great."

"Thanks," Harry smiled. "I had a little help."

Regulus nodded. "Follow me." As they approached the formal dining room, Regulus said, "There will be another guest dining with us as well, Harry. Don't be shocked."

"Why should I be shocked?"

Before Regulus could answer, the double doors to the dining room opened and Harry entered, looking about.

"Good evening, Harry," Voldemort greeted.

Harry bowed and said, "Good evening."

Then Harry looked to right and had to do a double take when he noticed the other person sitting in the room.

"Harry," Voldemort announced, "I believe you are already acquainted with your headmistress, Delores Umbridge."

OOOOOO

A/N To answer a question posed in a review: yes, Harry will confide in someone else besides Tally. You'll have to wait and see who.

I really hoped you enjoyed reading this. I'll try to have the next chapter out sooner. A combination of the holidays and work got in the way. Please let me hear from you. I'd like to know that people are still enjoying this fiction. Thanks!


	10. The Figment of the Fragment

A/N: Finally another installment for you. I hope it is worth the wait. Let me know. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fiction.

**The Figment of the Fragment**

Harry paused a moment, staring at Delores Umbridge who was already seated at the dining table. Why had Voldemort invited that woman? Harry quickly glanced at Regulus who seemed to be watching Harry for any reaction.

Harry decided he would not make a scene, no matter how much he hated that woman. He took a breath and said, "Yes, of course. Good evening."

Delores did not meet Harry's eyes as she stared down at her empty plate and replied, stiffly, "Good evening."

When Harry returned his attention to Lord Voldemort, he could see his interest and amusement in their strained exchange. It seemed the Dark Lord wanted to get a rise out of Harry.

"Please, have a seat," the Dark Lord motioned to the seat directly across from Umbridge. Voldemort sat at the head of the table and Regulus took a seat on his right. "There seems to have been a bit of excitement at school since we last met, Harry," Voldemort continued as house elves ran about, filling their soup bowls with the first course.

Harry tried not to look at Umbridge, but he couldn't help doing so. She seemed to be avoiding Harry's gaze, in fact, she looked downright frightened. Harry had the feeling that she really didn't want to be here tonight, but she couldn't refuse.

He tore his gaze away from the headmistress, looking at Voldemort once again. "I reckon so, sir," Harry replied, slipping easily into parseltongue.

"You know, Harry, during my own time at Hogwarts, I worked more discreetly than you. I loathed making a scene in public, though I did my share of mischief secretly," Voldemort shared, a small grin lifting the corner of his mouth as he reminisced. "I truly do understand the need to punish those who do not live up to your expectations."

Delores' spoon clattered nervously on the edge of her soup bowl.

"Manners, woman!" Voldemort snapped angrily at her.

She dropped her spoon with a squeak and bowed her head, "I'm sorry, my Lord." She kept her head bowed and did not look up, nor did she attempt to eat again.

The three men ate their soup silently for a few minutes. Then Harry said, "My Lord, may I ask you a question?"

"You may," Voldemort replied, dabbing the corner of his mouth neatly with his napkin.

"Why is she here?"

Voldemort looked pleased at question. "To answer that, Harry, you need to ask yourself, why did I invite _you_ here tonight?"

"I believe you wished to see what my abilities are."

"Precisely. And what better way to do so than to present you with your "trigger," I think Regulus called it."

Harry glanced at Regulus, who had no idea what they had been saying with their snake language. He couldn't help but feel a little betrayed that Regulus had shared that bit of information with Voldemort. He remembered telling Regulus that Umbridge triggered him.

"Don't be upset with him, Harry. There are no secrets between us."

Harry shrugged, knowing differently. "It's all right," he replied, trying to pretend he didn't care.

"Good," the Dark Lord nodded. The house elves scurried in and cleared off the soup bowls, replacing them with plates of roasted lamb, potatoes and carrots.

They ate in silence again and Delores also picked daintily at her food. Harry knew she was deathly afraid of Voldemort and didn't dare make another move to upset him.

"It's very good," Harry complimented, hoping to interrupt the awkward silence.

"I'm happy you think so," Voldemort replied, "though I know you eat very well at Hogwarts. At least, the Slytherins do, yes? I hear the other houses aren't so fortunate."

Harry, who had been successfully bottling his anger tonight, felt it gnawing up out of the depts. So this was the game - getting Harry angry enough to strike out. But what did Voldemort expect Harry to do? Attack Umbridge again, or him, or Regulus? Was he planning on prodding and poking at Harry's dark side until it reared its ugly head?

Yes, that was exactly the plan, wasn't it? And here Regulus and Umbridge sat, unaware of what they were discussing in parseltongue. "I don't understand what you want me to do," Harry said, tightly.

"I'm giving you this opportunity to address your grievances, Harry. Make your case as to why you are unsatisfied at Hogwarts and what changes you would like to see." He nodded toward Umbridge. "Tell her."

Harry remember what Regulus said earlier. _These things are sanctioned by our Lord. We can't afford a rebel in the family. _He knew he had to be careful. He couldn't just say that the other houses are their equals and needed to be treated as such. He had to come up with something even Voldemort might agree with. He had to use logic.

Harry turned his face to Umbridge so that he would speak in English again, releasing a breath. Even though she did not raise her eyes to his, Harry knew she was at least listening.

"I'm appalled at the conditions the other houses have to live under. All three houses are stuffed in the dungeon, with no beds of their own. It's cold, damp and miserable down there. The bathrooms made me physically ill. Has anyone even fixed one toilet or sink down there in the last ten years?"

Delores stiffened, her nostrils flaring, though she did not meet Harry's eyes.

"Answer him," the Dark Lord ordered.

Delores cleared her throat, nervously. "I… I merely am following the directions of our Lord who informed me over a decade ago to elevate Slytherin house over all others."

Harry glanced at Voldemort. "May I speak freely?"

"Of course," Voldemort nodded, folding his hands together, and looking intrigued by what Harry might say. Regulus paled, and Harry knew he had to tread carefully.

Harry took a calming breath. "First, I'd like to say, that I understand why you would have gave that order back then, my Lord. My father informed me that Slytherins use to be looked down upon before the war. It was right that the other houses experience what that may have felt like."

Voldemort gave a small nod.

"However," Harry continued, "the students attending Hogwarts today were either not born yet or just infants during the war. If they continue to get punished for the sins of their parents, what does that bode for the future of the magical world? They will hate Slytherins more than ever and you may even experience a rebellion down the line."

"I do not fear them, Harry. I am stronger than ever."

"All right, but the other point I'd like to make is that who will run our shops, sweep our streets, and do the jobs the rich do not want to bother with? If the lower classes are ill and dying off, then who will do these jobs? And if we treat them badly and as slaves in order to keep things running, how well will they do these jobs for us?"

"I will not pamper the underclasses," Voldemort stated.

"No, not pamper them, but at least keep them healthy enough to work for us. Give them some rewards and something to strive for to better their situations and you will create loyalty."

Delores finally looked up from her meal, shock in her eyes. Harry could tell that no one else had ever dared to tell the Dark Lord how things should be run. It wasn't exactly what Harry wanted to say. He wanted to yell about equality and human rights, but he knew that could be his, and his family's, death knell. No, he had to still agree Slytherins were superior while trying to better the living conditions of others.

Voldemort shifted his attention to Delores. "I gave you free reign to carry out my wishes at Hogwarts, Delores. And you did. I never bothered to question the degree to which you decided to punished the underclasses. I left those decisions entirely up to you."

Umbridge nodded, "Yes, my Lord."

"Are they ill and dying, Delores?"

"We do treat the ill, my Lord. They are allowed a special room in the infirmary."

"One room? For all the ill?" Harry interrupted, feeling his anger start to rise.

She shot an irritated glance at Harry. "We do not allow the underclasses to be mixed with the Slytherins! We do not want you to catch their diseases."

Harry shook his head in disgust. "Are there at least beds in that room?"

Delores squinted her eyes and pursed her lips. "They are not to be pampered!"

Voldemort looked pleased at the building tension. "And deaths? How many died last year, Delores?"

"Five," she stated, her chin rising in defiance as she kept her eyes on Harry.

Harry stood so quickly his chair fell backwards.

"Harry!" Regulus scolded.

But Voldemort placed his hand over Regulus'. "It's all right, Regulus. Let Harry express himself." He smirked at Harry who was glaring at Umbridge, his anger making his chest rise and fall quickly. "Harry, five unfortunate children have died last year alone because the headmistress does not care for their well being. How does that make you feel?"

"What?! My Lord?" Delores sputtered, wondering why Voldemort suddenly seemed to be against her policies. "I only live to serve you."

"SILENCE," Voldemort snapped at her. "I did not address you, woman. I asked Harry how he felt."

"I feel very angry," Harry replied, feeling the darkness rise in him. This wasn't going well. He didn't want this to happen, but seeing Umbridge defend her atrocities was pushing him over the edge.

"Did you know, Harry, that she fired Severus Snape, your favorite professor, because of what you did to her?" Voldemort goaded.

Harry glared from one to the other. "It wasn't his fault!" Harry thought about Snape having to go home and tell Lily he would no longer have access to Harry, and his anger grew even more hot. Wasn't her life already bad enough?

"Then whose fault was it, Harry?" Voldemort asked, enjoying the build up of Harry's ire.

"Hers!" Harry snapped, making Delores gasp. "I hate the fucking bitch!"

Regulus shut his eyes and turned his head slightly. He couldn't stand seeing Harry this way, but the Dark Lord was obviously enjoying every moment.

Voldemort smiled. "Show me, Harry, show me how you punished her. She deserves it, you know."

Delores yelped and stood, her mouth wide with outrage. "Don't you dare!" she yelled at Harry.

"I command you to punish her, Harry," Voldemort said smoothly. But Harry didn't need asking, the dark soul fragment had taken over, enjoying the power he had over Umbridge. The fear and outrage on her face making him want to hurt her more. She was weak. Weak! And he was strong.

Before he could think about it, he had his wand in his hand. "Crucio!"

Delores fell to the floor, screaming and writhing, while Voldemort's smile grew.

Regulus turned his face away, disturbed. He had seen many horrible things over the years, but watching Harry torture another was the most disturbing of all. This was not the boy he knew and loved. It was as if Harry was possessed by an evil demon. Never would he be able to tell James and Sirius of this. Never!

"Enough," Voldemort stated. Harry lowered his wand, still breathing hard as he observed the woman moaning and crying on the ground.

Regulus turned his head and noticed Voldemort was not looking at the others. His gaze was fixed on Regulus, observing his distaste for the event. "You wish to leave?" Voldemort asked softly, yet unemotionally.

Regulus nodded, not wanting to look at Harry, the stranger he no longer knew.

Voldemort leaned toward Regulus, lowering his voice. "Because you are dear to me, I will allow you to leave - just this once. Go and contemplate this softness you have. Then get rid of it."

Regulus swallowed and nodded. "Yes, my Lord."

Harry cast his eyes down as Regulus passed behind him. Why had he allowed his anger to rise like this? He felt horrible for shocking Regulus, but strangely, not for hurting Umbridge. Maybe he was a monster. He looked at Voldemort who was rising from his chair and stepping toward Delores, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Well done, Harry. You see, sometimes my followers get too full of themselves and need to be put in their places. It was time for Delores to be taught a lesson." He turned his face toward Harry who was still breathing hard. "I don't completely agree with the points you made tonight, but I will give them more thought."

Voldemort walked around the table, ignoring Delores' whimpering gasps and weeping. "You're strong, Harry. I knew you'd be. But you're too much of an idealist. I understand that the young are often so. I won't hold it against you. You are still a student, after all, and have much to learn about the world. When you are done with school, you will come live with me. I will teach all you need to know."

"Yes, my Lord," Harry replied, knowing he'd be long gone before that could ever happen. "May I make a request?"

Voldemort lifted his brows in surprise. "You may."

"I request that Severus Snape be reinstated. I have learned much from him and I feel I have more to learn."

Voldemort lifted his wand and pointed it at Delores, lifting her weeping form off the floor and placing it back in her chair. She moaned with pain as she was put down and her head slumped onto the table.

"You will have Severus Snape returned to his position, Delores. Is that clear?"

"Yes," she managed to mutter through her sobs.

"And," Voldemort continued, with a small smile for Harry, "my relative will not be punished for this evening, or for the past incidence. Harry is now under my jurisdiction. I am the only one who will decide if and when he gets punished for anything he does in the future. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my Lord," she replied, trying to raise her head off the table with little success.

He snapped his fingers and a house elf came running in. "Take her back to her quarters at Hogwarts."

"You may return home as well, Harry. I will contact you when I wish to meet again."

OOOOOO

As Harry stepped through the floo into Grimmauld Place, he came face to face with James and Sirius, both waiting for him eagerly.

"Harry!" James exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Harry reassured them.

They looked him over. "What happened?" Sirius asked. "Regulus came home a bit ago and wouldn't say a word to us. He looked so troubled, it made us frantic with worry."

Harry tried to smile reassuringly. "I reckon he saw me at my worst."

"What did he have you do?"

"I… um… had to demonstrate what I did to Umbridge."

James and Sirius glanced at one another. "Who did you do it to, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"To Umbridge… again."

"My God," James said, falling back onto a chair. "He brought that poor woman over there to get tortured again?"

"Poor woman?" Harry said, frowning. "She's not exactly a saint."

James shook his head. "Harry…"

"No," Harry interrupted. "I don't want to hear it. I did what I had to do to keep this family from suspicion. Please don't start getting judgmental on me."

"I'm sorry, son," James said. "It's not easy for me to sit here and wonder what he's doing to you every time you go to him."

"I understand," Harry sighed, rubbing a tired hand over his eyes. "I'm going to bed."

James nodded. "All right. Good night, then."

As Harry left the room he knew James would take comfort in Sirius' arms, and for once he was glad that they had each other. It was a hard world to live in alone.

He entered his bedroom to find Regulus sitting in a chair, staring out at the stars. Harry had no idea what to say to him. He knew he was shocked at what he saw at Riddle Palace. Harry took off his tie and dress robe and sat down on the edge of his bed nearest to Regulus.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Harry said, simply.

Regulus' brows furled in and he turned his head to Harry. "Who are you?"

Harry was taken aback by the question. Did he really blow his cover? "I'm Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lilly Evans."

Regulus shook his head slowly. "Who are you really?"

"Regulus…"

"No!" Regulus interrupted. "You can't be the same boy I helped raise. Nothing makes sense anymore. You have changed too much."

"I…"

"Remember Ginger?"

Harry sat silent. Then he finally said, "What about Ginger?"

"So you do remember? You were only five, maybe six years old."

Harry shrugged. "I remember a little," he lied.

"Why didn't you speak Parseltongue to Ginger? Why didn't you speak it back then?"

So, Ginger was a snake. Wonderful, Harry thought. How was he going to explain that away? "I don't know."

"Something's happened to you lately. Something has made you… different. Were you hexed? Or, perhaps, you are an imposter. Were you sent by the Dark Lord to test me? If so, what did you do with the real Harry?"

It was the perfect moment to come clean, to share with Regulus who he really was. Only one thing hindered him from doing so, however, and that was the answer to the last question. He didn't have the heart to tell him that his Harry was dead and he wasn't sure how badly Regulus would act toward him if he did find out. Perhaps he could tell him a small part of the truth.

"I am Harry, but there is someone else inside me too."

Regulus stared in confusion. "Tell me."

"It's a fragment - a fragment of a dark soul from a very dark wizard."

Regulus squinted in suspicion. "Are you making up a story, Harry?"

"I wish I was."

"How did this soul fragment get into you?"

Harry knew he'd have to make up this part. "During the summer I visited a friend. And I won't tell you who it was, so don't ask. I swore a wizard's oath I wouldn't tell. My friend has an uncle who practices very dark magic. He was making objects called horcruxes."

"What are these horcruxes?"

"They are objects that you can put a piece of your soul in so that if you die, you can be resurrected with a certain ritual."

Regulus stood, fists clenched. "By Gods, he made you into one of those objects! I shall kill him!"

"He didn't mean to make me one. It was an accident. And, besides, you can't kill him because I can't tell you who he is or I'll die. Wizard's oath, remember?"

"And this soul fragment, this is what has been making you act out lately?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, when I get angry."

"And the parseltongue? Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. Maybe he is the true relative of Lord Voldemort, not me. Maybe it's from the soul fragment as well."

Regulus began pacing the floor, muttering, "My Gods!"

"Are you going to tell the Dark Lord?" Harry finally asked.

Regulus stopped pacing. "Are you daft? He would demand to know who his real relative is and he would not care if you died breaking your oath. No, unfortunately, Harry, you are going to have to go on with this ruse."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

Regulus shook his head, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "It's not your fault. Give me your foot."

"What?"

"Just do it," Regulus said, impatiently.

Harry sat on the edge of the bed and put one foot in the air. Regulus took it and pulled the sock off. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small ring.

"A toe ring?" Harry asked.

Regulus nodded as he fitted it on Harry's smallest toe. "It will serve the same purpose as my ring. You won't have to rely on potions anymore to shield your memories from the Dark Lord. And he won't see it when it is on your toe, covered by your boots. You have no idea how many favors I had to call in to get this. It is more important than ever that all you have revealed to me remains a secret. You haven't told anyone else, have you?"

He started to shake his head, but then said, "Wait, I did confide a bit in Tally. That's why I sent her off - to help me find a solution."

Regulus nodded. "I'm not worried about house elves. They would rather die than break their loyalty. Do you think this soul fragment can be removed?"

"It might be possible. But if I end up not being able to speak Parseltongue anymore, well, you know…"

Regulus stepped forward and hugged Harry. "We'll find a solution, somehow."

Harry nodded against his shoulder. "When Tally returns, it's very important that you send her directly to me, all right?"

"I shall," Regulus promised.

OOOOOOO

The following week was strange for Harry. The headmistress had not shown up for any meals until Wednesday evening and she avoided looking at Harry at all. Even when he passed her in the halls, she turned her face away, ignoring him with a pinched, stressed expression on her face.

Severus Snape showed up for class on Monday as usual. Harry believed that no one else was even aware that he had been fired last week. Snape said nothing outside of class to Harry, though Harry had tried to catch his attention on multiple occasions to talk. Snape would leave the room directly after dismissing the class, leaving Harry to wonder what the hurry was. Was he avoiding him?

Even his group of Slytherin friends were more subdued, asking how his weekend went yet avoiding the nag session they pulled on Harry last time. For that, Harry was grateful, but it did make him wonder why they had changed their behavior toward him. After a very quiet few days, Harry pulled Draco aside as they were walking back from the Great Hall after dinner.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Draco replied.

"Why is everyone acting so strangely around me?"

"Are they?"

"You know they are. What has changed?"

Draco sighed, glancing off in both directions. Then he took Harry's hand and pulled him into an empty classroom, closing the door behind them.

"There is talk, Harry, that you are now the Dark Lord's heir. No one wants to take the chance of getting on your bad side. They believe you have a direct line to the Dark Lord's ear and can ruin their families with a word."

"That's ridiculous!" Harry exclaimed. "I'm not some cry baby, running to Voldemort with complaints. Do you honestly believe that I enjoy meeting with him? Do you want to know what he had me do Saturday night?"

Draco cast his eyes down. "I'm not sure that I do."

Harry took a step closer. "And what about us?"

Draco swallowed, raising his gaze back to Harry's. "I don't know. What if it doesn't work between us, Harry? What if I let you down in some way? Then what would happen to me? To my family?"

"You don't trust me, then? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, I'm not saying that. But you have to admit that you have had plenty of secrets lately. Even I could tell something is very different about you."

Harry looked away, disappointed. Draco was right. He couldn't give him an honest relationship. His life wasn't 'honest,' not in this dimension. Then he laughed to himself and shook his head. "I never did realize that about you."

"Realize what?" Draco asked, confused.

But Harry was thinking of the other Draco in his world. He wondered if they were at all similar.

"Nothing," Harry shook his head. He took another step toward Draco. "Look, if I could promise that I'll never complain to Voldemort about you or any of our other friends, could we end this cold shoulder stuff?"

"Wizard's oath?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged and nodded. "Sure, why not? Like I said, I don't have that type of relationship with him in the first place. Most of the time, I just want to leave his presence as fast as possible."

Draco nodded. "I'll talk to the others."

"Thanks," Harry replied. "And… you, are you still interested in me?" Harry felt shy about asking this, his heart began hammering in his chest.

Draco cast his eyes down, a small smile on his lips, before meeting Harry's eyes again. "It seems so. I'll see you later."

He began to pass Harry on his way to the door, but Harry reached out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him back and against his body. Their faces were centimeters apart. "Don't go yet," Harry whispered, closing his eyes and moving his lips onto Draco's.

Draco moaned slightly and wrapped his arms around Harry, kissing him back with building passion. Harry moved him against the wall, keeping their lips locked together. He pressed his body more fully onto Draco, feeling the excitement building in both their trousers. "I want you," Harry rasped, moving his lips down Draco's neck, licking a hot trail.

Draco moved his hands down over Harry's backside, grasping his buttocks and pressing him even more tightly against him. "I want you too," Draco rasped back.

Harry tugged Draco's shirt out of his pants and moved his hands over the blond's hot, smooth back under his shirt. "Let's go back to my room," Harry whispered, lost in the moment.

Draco moaned and nodded. "Yes, let's."

They grinned at one another, hurrying out the door and made their way quickly up the tower. Ignoring the looks of their friends, they rushed through the common room and into Harry's bedroom. Harry locked the door while Draco practically leapt on the bed.

Then the blond sobered a bit and said, "Wait! The oath first, Harry."

"I thought you wanted all our friends to be present for that."

"You can make it without them. I'm your witness. I don't want them getting in our way tonight."

Harry smiled at Draco's eagerness as he felt the same way.

"All right. Let's get this over with." He pulled out his wand and said, "I, Harry James Potter, vow never talk negative about Draco, Vincent, Blaise, Gregory, Theodore and their families to Lord Voldemort. I will hold all they say to me in complete confidence or suffer a horrible death instantly."

Draco looked surprised at how easy it seemed for Harry to make this vow, but he touched the tip of his wand to Harry's and nodded. "It's done."

They stared at one another for a bit and then smiled, tossing their wands aside. Harry leapt onto the bed, straddling Draco, while unbuttoning the blond's shirt. "I want you naked," Harry said, lustily.

Draco grinned sexily, allowing Harry to pull off his shirt and unfasten his trousers. After Harry had tugged the last article of clothing off, his gaze swept approvingly over Draco, making him harden instantly.

Draco yanked Harry down against his body, snogging him madly and slipping his own long fingers under Harry's shirt, tugging it up and off. Harry's hair was mussed in the process and Draco thought it most adorable. He growled and turned Harry over so that he was now straddling Harry, pulling at his belt and zipper.

Harry teased by grasping Draco's erection and moving his hand with just the right amount of friction. But Draco didn't want to climax yet so he moved off Harry, scooting down his legs and pulling the rest of Harry's pants off. He couldn't help but pause to admire Harry's tan, fit body - something he'd been dreaming about since Harry's birthday party. "Merlin, Harry, you're perfect."

Harry blushed a bit. "Stop, that's not true."

Draco laid himself over Harry, skin against skin - such a delightful sensation. "Oh, yes, it is," he smiled.

This was almost too much for Harry, these sensations, these feelings. The look of admiration on Draco's face… it did something to Harry. It made his pulse race and his nerves tingle. These feelings were something he had never experienced before and it was so exciting. And then Draco's face turned more serious as his face hovered over Harry's and his eyes searched Harry's eyes. And in that moment, Harry knew this was much more than sex. It was true intimacy. And Harry wanted this. He craved this.

Then Draco kissed him, a sweet yet passionate kiss, that expressed this new intimacy between them better than any words would ever be able to do. In the back of Harry's mind a little cry of panic hit in that moment. This couldn't be happening now, not here in this dimension. He shouldn't be letting himself fall deeply for someone that he would have to leave. His hands pushed a bit at Draco's shoulders, breaking the kiss.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked, breathing heavily and searching Harry's eyes.

"I…," he only managed to say in return.

"You what?"

"I have lots of homework tonight," he responded, lamely.

Draco shook his head. "You idiot. Tonight we're skiving off on homework. Tonight is for us." And he wouldn't hear anymore excuses. He resumed kissing Harry in the most delicious manner that Harry forgot any concerns he had. Nothing mattered anymore but this moment.

And when Draco began moving his mouth down the length of Harry's body, Harry forgot anything else existed but this moment. And if Harry had thought the blow job he received from the whore at the Gentlemen's Club was pleasant, it was nothing compared to what he now felt when Draco's hot mouth slid over him, taking him completely in as if he was a god to be worshiped. Maybe it was so much better because of how he felt about Draco and how Draco felt about him.

Harry's fingers tangled in Draco's smooth hair as his eyes closed and sensations shot through every nerve in his body. "Merlin, Draco," he moaned. And Harry was lost in the pleasure of it all, the movement of mouth and tongue, fingers caressing and stroking. It was a delirious feeling and he couldn't wait to make Draco feel this way in return.

Harry's eyes flew open when his climax was upon him and he tried to tug Draco's head back in time. "I'm coming," he warned.

But Draco wouldn't leave him. He only grinned and continued. "I know," he practically purred, licking and swallowing all of Harry's release.

When it was over, Harry lay panting on the bed as Draco moved up next to him, grinning knowingly. "That was incredible," Harry managed to say.

"Yes, it was," Draco's smiled widened.

Harry's eyes traveled down Draco's body and noticed that he was sporting a very excited erection. "My turn," Harry announced, pushing Draco down onto his back and leaning over him to kiss. He could only hope that he knew what he was doing since he had never done this before. But one had to start sometime, didn't they?

Harry did his best to mimic what Draco had done for him, kissing him down his body and stroking him. When he took Draco into his mouth, he had not known what to expect. But when Draco began squirming and writhing, moaning and groaning, Harry took that as encouragement that he was indeed doing it well. It was very exciting making the blond react so strongly that Harry didn't mind at all when Draco shot his release into his mouth, exhausting every drop.

When Harry moved to lay next to him, Draco turned and slung an arm over his chest. "That was fantastic," he smiled softly. "Shall we take a little nap?"

Harry was exhausted after all that. "Sound's great," he sighed contentedly, closing his eyes. He felt Draco lean in and place a soft kiss over his eyelids.

By gods, Harry was a goner. How was he ever going to leave this?

OOOOOO

Draco awoke a hour later, and studied Harry's sleeping face in the candlelight. Filled with happiness, he kissed him softly on the cheek before rising carefully to use the restroom.

As Draco was finishing up in the restroom, he heard voices coming through the door from Harry's room. He pressed his ear to the crack, wondering who had come to visit Harry. It didn't sound like another bloke. The voice was that of a house elf.

"Master Harry, wake up. Tally is here, sir, wake up."

He could hear Harry's drowsy reply. "Tally?" And then more strongly, as if Harry had a shock. "Tally! Thank Merlin! Where have you been all this time? I've been waiting so long."

"Tally was on her journey for you, Master, like you said to go."

"Of course. And did you find it, Tally? Do you have it?"

It? What on Earth was Harry so anxious for?

"I'm sorry, Master, Tally cannot find a Kortle Seed. I've search and search."

Draco sensed fear in her voice. She was scared of Harry's reaction to this news. There was a long pause before Draco heard Harry speak again.

"You have to keep trying. You have to find one, Tally. It's a matter of life and death. I hope you understand what will happen if I don't go home. I must! Maybe I should just come with you and help you."

"Oh, no, Master, you must not leave school. Let Tally keep searching. Tally will try harder."

Draco could hear Harry sighing in frustration. What on Earth was this Kortle seed and why was it so important to Harry? Why wouldn't he be able to go home without one? None of this made sense.

"You've got one more week, Tally. Return to me in a week. If you haven't found one by then, I'm leaving to search on my own, consequences be damned."

"Yes, Master. Tally will try harder."

Draco backed away from the door. He flushed the toilet and turned the faucets on as to let Harry know he was still about.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, Harry was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at him with a blank expression. The house elf was nowhere in sight.

"I thought I heard voices," Draco said, innocently. "Did someone come to visit?"

"How much did you hear?"

"Nothing really, just someone talking with you. Is there a problem?"

Harry nodded. "It was my house elf with bad news. I'm sorry, but I think I need to be alone for a bit. Don't take this personally."

"Are you going to be all right? We can talk about it if you need to."

Harry shook his head. "I just need to think about some things."

Draco nodded, trying to be understanding. It was clear Harry was very upset about this Kortle seed for some reason, but this was not the time to pry. He walked over and kissed Harry's cheek. "Good night, then. Let me know if you need me."

"Good night," Harry replied, a bit morosely.

Draco left Harry's room but did not return to his own. He went straight to the library and strolled up to the librarian behind the desk. "I need to see anything you have on Kortle seeds," he stated.

The librarian consulted the rows of scrolls behind her. "Kortle seeds…. Kortle seeds…" she muttered over and over as she searched. "I've never heard of anything with that name… I'm sorry, but there is nothing in this library concerning a seed with that name. Where did you hear of such a thing?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't remember, but I was curious when I did hear it. I never heard of it either."

"You may want to consult with the herbology instructor, Professor Growley. If such a seed does exist, he would certainly know."

Draco nodded. "Thank you." He would indeed consult Professor Growley in the morning. If this Kortle seed was that important to Harry, he needed to know why.

OOOOOO

A/N: Yay! I've finished another chapter. This was longer than usual, but a lot is happening in the story. Will Draco find out the truth? You'll find out next time. Please let me know your thoughts. I love hearing from you. ~Till next time…


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